Britain recorded 34,471 new coronavirus infections on Monday, up from 31,772 a day earlier, and six deaths, lower than the 26 reported on Sunday, official data showed.

Daily positive cases have been rising in Britain for over a month but a rapid vaccination programme appears to have weakened the link between infections and deaths, with daily fatalities remaining low.

The data also showed that 45.9 million people have had a first dose of the vaccine and 34.9 million have had two.