The UK recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus-related deaths Wednesday since March as cases continue to rise amid fears of a surge as the new school year begins.

A total of 207 deaths were reported, the highest since March 9, when 231 deaths were registered. Between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1, the number of people who died from the virus totaled 739 – a 0.5% increase compared to the previous week.

The number of daily cases remains high after experiencing a sudden drop last month, and on Wednesday, 35,693 people had a confirmed positive test result.

That figure brings the week’s number of positive tests to 236,279, a 0.2% decrease from the previous week.

Vaccinations across the UK continue to increase, despite Wednesday’s high death count that damped the fatality curve despite the increase in infections.

As of Aug. 31, more than 48 million people had been administered a first dose of the vaccine with an excess of 42 million receiving their second.

There are fears, however, among the scientific community that with children returning to school in an atmosphere of no social restrictions, there will inevitably be a surge in the number of cases and therefore a rise in deaths.

That will be compounded by the highly transmissible Delta variant, which is now the UK’s most dominant form of the virus.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ (Anadolu Agency)