The UK has recorded 1,290 more Covid-related deaths since Wednesday.
It brings the total number of fatalities to 94,580 since the pandemic began. That refers to people who have died within 28 days of first testing positive for coronavirus.
But as with all daily deaths updates, it doesn’t mean all these victims have actually died within the last 24 hours – just that they have been newly reported.
The true deadliest days of the pandemic only emerge later, as deaths can take days and even months to report after occurring.
January 12 is the deadliest day of the pandemic so far and seven more deaths have been recorded for that date in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 1,117.
The previous record number of deaths on a single day was 1,073, recorded during the first wave of the virus on April 8, 2020. This number relates to deaths within 28 days of positive test by date of death.
Boris Johnson said on Thursday it is “too early” to say whether coronavirus restrictions will be eased before the summer.
The government has set a target of vaccinating around 15 million of the most vulnerable people by February 15.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told MPs on Tuesday the NHS was now vaccinating people at the rate of 200 jabs every minute.
He said the UK has now given more than five million doses to 4.6 million people.
It comes as statistics from the Test and Trace service suggested the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 has fallen in England by 15% week on week.
But the figures contrast with latest REACT survey by Imperial College London, which found the number of people infected between January 6 and 15 was up by 50% on early December.