Covid live news: Turkey reports daily record of 111,157 new cases; England’s R number rises to between 0.8 and 1.1

Turkish daily death toll highest in four months as cases surge; UK health agency says number of cases each day could be rising

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Bulgaria reported 8,142 new Covid infections yesterday, public broadcaster BNT reports, taking the country's 7-day average to 8,134 cases a day.

That's near last week's peak of over 12,000, as Omicron has jolted infections up to record levels recently. There are 6,124 Covid patients in hospital.

In Missouri, the second worst state in the country for hospitalizations, 79% of the hospitals are under extreme stress. At Mercy hospital in Springfield, in the south-western part of the state, about 28% of their hospitalizations are Covid-19 patients, according to Erik Frederick, the hospital's chief administrative office. ...

It creates a lot of stress on the healthcare system," Frederick said.