Coronavirus infections hit 27,900 cases a day in England, data suggests

ONS figures estimate 1 in 160 people were infected with Covid in first week of October

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Cases of coronavirus are rising rapidly in England, according to new figures that suggest there were about 27,900 new cases every day in the community in early October.

Data from the Office for National Statistics, based on swab testing of randomly selected households, show that between 2 to 8 October, around 1 in 160 people in the community in England had Covid - a substantial rise from the previous week, when an estimated 1 in 240 people had the disease, with about 17,200 new cases a day.