Pregnant women urged to get Covid jab by England’s chief midwife

Pregnant women in England are being urged to get the Covid vaccine, as new research suggests they are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with the Delta variant.

The study shows 99 per cent of pregnant women who are taken to hospital with Covid are unvaccinated and they appear to have more severe symptoms.

Across the UK, the number of new daily cases has fallen slightly to just over 29,500, while a further 68 deaths have been recorded

In England, the R number, which shows how far the disease is being transmitted, is also fractionally lower than last week.