An analysis based on the current rate of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom has shown that the number of daily cases of the virus in the country could increase tenfold within a month owing to the new Delta variant.

The Sunday Telegraph said that at the current rate, the UK could be facing up to 80,000 new cases of Covid-19 per day by mid-July.

The analysis comes as the country grapples with an increase in cases owing to the transmission of the Delta variant – previously known as the Indian variant – and evaluates whether to increase certain restrictive measures beyond the 21 June, the scheduled reopening day.

A Public Health England report meanwhile found that the Delta variant has a 64% increased risk of household transmission when compared to the Alpha variant – previously known as the UK variant.

It also found that 29% of the 42 people who died after contracting the Delta variant of Covid-19 had been fully vaccinated against the virus.

The Delta strain is now the UK’s most dominant, with more than 90% of the country’s cases traced to the variant.

In England, 39,061 cases of the Delta variant have now been confirmed, with 2,035 in Scotland, 184 in Wales and 43 in Northern Ireland.

Of those, 42 Britons have died from the Delta variant. And the PHE report shows that of those 42 people to have died, 12 were fully vaccinated.

From the remaining group, 23 were unvaccinated, while seven had received their first dose more than 21 days before.

The Public Health England report found that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines were less effective against the Delta variant when considering only the first dose, but that efficacy against the strain after both doses had been administered remained over 80%.