Another deadly day as UK hits new record for daily death toll

Within 28 days of testing positive for the virus a further 1,820 people have died, up from Tuesday which recorded 1,610 fatalities.

A further 38,905 people have been confirmed with the virus in 24 hours which is the highest this week, compared with 33,555 yesterday.

Scientists and Public Health England (PHE) have warned that unfortunately there will be a rise in coronavirus related deaths.

Due to the lag between people becoming infected, then being admitted to hospital means that the death toll may not start to come down until the end of January.

PHE medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle warned that coronavirus-related deaths will “continue for some time throughout this second wave.”

She added, “Whilst there are some early signs that show our sacrifices are working, we must continue to strictly abide by the measures in place.

“By reducing our contacts and staying at home we will see a fall in the number of infections over time.”

This comes as the Office For National Statistics (ONS) data shows one in eight people in England had already been infected with  Covid-19 by December.