LONDON - COVID-19 infections in England have increased to their highest level since the beginning of the year, according to official figures released Friday.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey estimates around one in 50 people had coronavirus in England in the week to Oct 22, which is the same proportion of people at the peak of the second wave in early January.

The official weekly R number in England is estimated to have risen to between 1.1 and 1.3. The coronavirus reproduction figure means that for every 10 people with coronavirus they will, on average, infect between 11 and 13 others.

The pandemic therefore appears to be growing in England, as "R" was estimated to be between one and 1.2 last week.

Another 43,467 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 8,979,236, according to official figures released Friday.

The country also reported a further 186 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 140,392. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

There are currently 8,983 patients in hospital with COVID-19.

More than 86 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 79 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.