The figures showed a steep rise from the 599 deaths reported in yesterday’s official figures but there is often a lag in reporting new deaths after the weekend. It takes the total number of UK coronavirus deaths up to 91,470. Today’s data also showed there 33,355 new cases recorded today, down from yesterday’s 37,535.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show that there have now been 108,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth responded to the latest figures by tweeting: “Awful. Horrific. Devastating. And it didn’t have to be like this.”
Public Health England Medical Director Yvonne Doyle warned the country should be braced for further deaths and urged people to keep to the current social restrictions.
She said: “Each death is a tragedy and the number of Covid-19 related deaths within 28 days of a positive test will continue for some time throughout this second wave.”
England and Scotland announced new national lockdowns on January 4 in a bid to stem a surge in cases after the discovery of a more transmissible UK variant of the coronavirus late last year.
The lockdown has seen new cases come down from a seven-day average peak of around 60,000 new daily cases on January 7, though health officials have warned that the numbers of deaths will rise even as reported cases start to come down.
Dr Doyle said: “Whilst there are some early signs that show our sacrifices are working, we must continue to strictly abide by the measures in place.
“By reducing our contacts and staying at home we will see a fall in the number of infections over time.”
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The record number of daily UK deaths was posted as military personnel were drafted in the to help ease the crisis.
NHS England said 400 members of the armed forces were now working alongside doctors and nurses in hospitals across London and the Midlands.
They are a mix of combat medical technicians and soldiers performing general duties including helping on wards, operating as family liaisons between clinical teams and patients’ relatives, as well as estates and porter duties.
An NHS England spokesman said: “The NHS is grateful to the 400 military personnel working in hospitals in the Midlands and London, alongside doctors, nurses and others who have returned to the NHS front line and tens of thousands of St John Ambulance volunteers working across the country.
“The NHS has 50,000 more staff now working in the health service than a year ago, all working round the clock to respond to unprecedented pressure on the NHS.”
Government figures showed that 4,266,577 people had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The UK is hoping to vaccinate 15 million high-risk people by the middle of February.
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