UK records 744 more Covid deaths, the highest since 29 April

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The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen by 744, the highest number reported in one day since 29 April.

Wednesday’s figure, covering people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, brings the UK total to 69,051. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 85,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

There were 39,237 new lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest number of the pandemic to date. Testing capacity has increased significantly since the first wave in the spring.

Another 2,004 Covid patients were admitted to hospital, bringing the total to 20,917.

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The latest daily update shows that at least 3,531 people have died from coronavirus over the past seven days, aan increase of nearly 20% on the previous week.

A total of 236,275 people have tested positive for coronavirus over the past seven days, 61% higher than the previous week. It brings the total number of cases recorded in the UK to 2,149,551.

A total of 13,603 people were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 this week, an increase of 15.6% over the previous week.

The Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, tweeted: “Absolutely awful. My heart goes out to everyone who is grieving, especially those families who have lost a loved one at Christmas time. It is clear that, as predicted, the government’s tier system has not worked or controlled the virus. At every stage they have acted too late.”