The UK has reported a record 1,325 more Covid-related deaths in the space of 24 hours.
The number is the highest of any day since the pandemic began, beating the previous record of 1,224 deaths recorded on April 21.
The UK total is now 79,833. That figure refers to people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test. Here’s a quick primer on how to make sense of the daily updates.
There was also a record number of cases reported in a 24-hour period – 68,053.
The sobering numbers come on the same day that a third coronavirus vaccine was approved for use in the UK.
The jab, from US biotech firm Moderna, has been given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), joining the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca.
On the same day, Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident in London as coronavirus transmission rates continue to soar across the capital.
It follows reports on Thursday that London’s hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed by coronavirus, even under the “best-case” scenario, according to an official briefing.
The latest statistics show that Barking & Dagenham in London continues to have the highest Covid case rate in England, with 3,331 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 3 – the equivalent of 1,564.5 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from 1,147.0 in the seven days to December 27.
Thurrock in Essex has the second highest Covid case rate, up from 1,314.1 to 1,494.2, with 2,605 new cases.
Redbridge, also in London is in third place, where the rate has increased from 1,191.9 to 1,467.1 with 4,478 new cases.
Of the 315 local areas in England, 309 (98%) have seen a rise in case rates in the last week.
More than half of all major hospital trusts in England currently have more Covid-19 patients than at the peak of the first wave of the virus, new analysis revealed on Friday.