UK reports record number of daily Covid deaths

The chief executive of NHS Wales spoke of “enormous” pressure on its services. Northern Ireland’s health minister said the situation in hospitals was “unsustainable”. While Boris Johnson admitted ICU capacity could be exceeded. Across the UK, health service staff are under severe strain and the number of victims continues to rise.

The latest 24-hourly figures show tragically 1,564 deaths with Covid – the highest yet announced. That brings the official total of UK deaths to 84,767. The latest figures show 47,525 have also tested positive for the virus.

But more than 2.6 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a vaccine, with over 200,000 people given a vaccine for the first time yesterday.

There are indications the latest lockdown is starting to pay dividends. The infection rate remains very high, but it is beginning to decline again after spiking dramatically following the end of the last English lockdown at the start of December.