A further 18,213 new cases have also been diagnosed.

The latest daily figures released by the Government bring the total official death toll to 56,533 while there have now been 1,557,007 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Today’s figures compare to the 11,299 new cases and 608 deaths seen yesterday. Last Wednesday there were 19,609 cases and 529 deaths reported.

The official figures count deaths in any setting within 28 days of a positive test. As many as 66,713 deaths have been recorded since March where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Cases continue to fall slightly across the UK after draconian lockdown measures were introduced by all four of the home nations.

There have been a further 907 cases of coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 74,735.

Public Health Wales reported another 41 deaths, taking the total in Wales since the start of the pandemic to 2,446.

Scotland has recorded 44 deaths from coronavirus and 880 positive tests in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said.

There have been seven more deaths and 533 new cases reported in Northern Ireland.

It comes as the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the UK’s coronavirus response has pushed borrowing up to record levels.

The country will borrow £394billion this year – the highest in any year during peacetime – to fund things like mass testing programmes, furloughing workers and vaccine development.

Local authorities are also awaiting news of which tier they will be placed in when the country comes out of lockdown on December 2.

An announcement will be made by Downing Street tomorrow with most parts of the country expected to be placed into level two or three.

Plans for Christmas have already been announced, with three households able to bubble together from December 23 until 27.

The decision to soften the rules over Christmas is continuing to attract controversy with experts warning it may cause a new spike in cases in the new year.