The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 87,295 – an increase of 1,280 over 24 hours.
The government also said that, as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 55,761 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 3,260,258.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 102,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
It comes as the reproduction number, or R rate, of coronavirus transmission across the UK is between 1.2 and 1.3 according to the latest government figures.
The R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect. If R is greater than 1, the epidemic is generally seen to be growing. If R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
Here’s what the R is near you
- East of England 1.0 – 1.3 (last week: 1.1 – 1.3)
- London 0.9 – 1.2 (1.1 – 1.4)
- Midlands 1.2 – 1.4 (1.1 – 1.4)
- North East and Yorkshire 1.1 – 1.3 (1.1 – 1.4)
- North West 1.2 – 1.5 (1.0 – 1.4)
- South East 1.0 – 1.2 (1.1 – 1.4)
- South West 1.2 – 1.5 (1.1 – 1.5)
In Scotland the latest figures estimate the R rate is between 0.9 and 1.3.
In Wales the R rate is estimated to be between 1.0 and 1.3.
And in Northern Ireland it is estimated to be above 1.
Boris Johnson will host a Downing Street press conference on Friday afternoon.
The prime minister has repeatedly warned England’s national lockdown rules could be tightened if they are not “properly observed”.
Ahead of the briefing, No.10 said that scientists at the government’s Porton Down research facility are investigating the new Brazilian variant of coronavirus.