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Another 25,177 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK and another 492 died after contracting the virus, according to the latest government data.
The new statistics, reported on Wednesday, bring the UK’s total to 47,742 deaths and is the highest daily figure since May 19, when 500 were reported.
This is an increase of 95 deaths from the figures reported Tuesday.
Deaths exceeded 300 in three days last week.
The latest figures come as MPs officially endorsed a new four-week lockdown for England, after Boris Johnson warned of an “existential threat” to the NHS without taking action to slow the spread of the disease.
Starting Thursday, nonessential pubs, restaurants and shops will again be forced to close their doors after the Commons voted 516-38, a government majority of 478, in favor of the new restrictions.
Right before the Commons vote, NHS England announced that it is moving to its highest alert level since midnight tonight, Wednesday.
The executive director of the health service, Sir Simon Stevens, said that the move to level four was in response to a “serious situation ahead” amid an increase in coronavirus patients needing intensive care.
Boris Johnson also warned today about deaths “on a serious scale” with no further action to stop the spread of coronavirus infections ahead of England’s lockdown from Thursday.
In other COVID news, the director of the Oxford vaccine trial has said that there is a “slim chance” that a jab will be ready before Christmas.
The chief investigator of the vaccine trial, Andrew Pollard, told the Science and Technology Committee that he is “optimistic” at the prospect, but said: “There is a small chance that that is possible, but I don’t know.
“Our trials are just one of many that are being carried out around the world, some of which may well report before the end of
year.”
A coronavirus The vaccine has not yet been approved and will need to go through regulators to confirm that it is safe and effective before it can be offered to the public.
