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The UK has reported another 53,135 coronavirus cases, the highest daily total on record since the pandemic began.
414 deaths were also reported within 28 days of a positive result. COVID-19 test, up from 357 on Monday, bringing the UK’s official total to 71,567.
A total of 41,385 new cases of the virus were reported on monday, the previous highest daily gain. According to Tuesday’s figures, the total number of positive tests nationwide since the pandemic began is 2,382,865.
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‘Resilience is running low on the NHS’
The latest daily figures come after it was revealed that England’s hospitals are now treating more patients than during the peak of the first wave in April.
Dr Susan Hopkins, Senior Medical Adviser to Public Health England, said: ‘We continue to see record levels of COVID-19 infection in the UK, which is of extreme concern, especially as our hospitals are at their peak. vulnerable”.
“While the number of cases reported today includes some during the holiday period, these numbers are largely a reflection of a real increase,” added Dr. Hopkins.
Margaret Keenan, the 90-year-old grandmother of four who became the world’s first patient to receive the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine outside of a clinical trial, received his second hit on Tuesday.
In the 13 days after their vaccination on December 8, more than 520,000 people in England received their first puncture, according to official figures.
But ministers have been warned that the UK must double your vaccination goal to two million a week to avoid a third wave of infections.
NHS England Chief Executive Officer Sir Simon Stevens said: “We are now back in the eye of the storm with a second wave of coronavirus hitting Europe and indeed this country.”
“Many of us have lost family, friends, colleagues, and at a time of year when we would normally be celebrating, many people are understandably anxious, frustrated and tired.”
Sir Simon, on a note of hope, added: “We believe that by late spring, with the vaccine supply up and running, we will have been able to deliver the COVID vaccine to all vulnerable people in this country.”
“That perhaps provides the best hope for next year.”
The government hopes that the imminent approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will allow an expansion of the vaccination program, which is currently based solely on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
