The UK recorded 106,122 new Covid cases on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since the beginning of the pandemic and the first time cases have passed 100,000, the Guardian reports..

Government figures showed a further 140 deaths were also reported, bringing the total to 147,573.

The new daily total is 106,122, which is more than 13,000 higher than the previous record - 93,045 on Friday last week.

The total number of new cases over the past week is up 58.9% on the total for the previous week.

Compared with the previous week, the number of daily deaths has decreased by 2.7% in the last seven days.

As of yesterday, a total of 8,008 people were in hospital with Covid. This is the highest number since 22 November and up 4% on a week earlier – but still a long way off the 39,254 hospitalisations recorded on 18 January.

Italy also recorded a jump in new cases, 36,293 compared with 30,798 the previous day, the health ministry said. A further 146 deaths were also reported, taking the total to 136,077. It is the second-highest death toll in Europe after Britain and ninth-highest in the world.

The number of patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – stood at 8,544 on Wednesday, up from 8,381 a day earlier. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 1,010 from a previous 1,012.