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The death toll from coronavirus in the UK has risen by 574, and the country has recorded a further 39,036 cases.
Thursday’s figure, which covers people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, brings the total number of deaths in the UK to 69,625.
Separate figures released by statistical agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, along with additional data on deaths that occurred in recent days, show that there have now been 86,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the UK. .
The figures came as Boris Johnson told a Downing Street news conference that England was facing “considerable new pressure” from the mutant strain, which has led to tougher restrictions in the south-east of the country.
The prime minister said that the stringent tier system, community testing and vaccine deployment would be the focus to tackle the pandemic, but did not rule out a second national lockdown after Christmas.
Analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that around half of all new coronavirus cases in England could be the new variant.
Thursday’s death toll figures were a slight reduction from Wednesday, when the UK recorded 744 deaths, the highest number in a day since April 29.
The latest figures show 2,143 patients were admitted to the hospital on Thursday.
Cases
The government said that, as of 9am on Thursday, there were another 39,036 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK.
A total of 239,928 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the past seven days, an increase of 49.1% over the previous seven days. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 2,188,587.
The rate of new Covid-19 cases in London has tripled in just two weeks, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England.
The rate stood at 602.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the seven days to December 20, compared to 200.3 in the seven days to December 6.
Rates have increased in all regions, with the East of England posting the next highest rate after London (440.7), followed by the South East of England (380.6) and the West Midlands (218.8).
Johnson had already announced that more than 500,000 people had received the first of two injections needed to get vaccinated, but the exact figure released Thursday was 616,933 between Dec. 8 and Dec. 20.
In England, more than 70% of people who received a coronavirus vaccine were over 80 years old, figures show.
