A further 1,610 people in the United Kingdom have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test – the highest number recorded on a single day since the start of the pandemic.
The total number of deaths from the virus has now surpassed 90,000 by the Government’s official count – though the real figure is likely to be significantly higher.
Another 33,355 new cases were recorded – while a total of 4,266,577 people have now received the first dose of a vaccine, according to Public Health England.
Many of the deaths included in Tuesday’s total will have taken place over the past few days, with some occurring more than a week ago, but are only now being reported due to the fact that fewer deaths are formally recorded at weekends.
Responding to the latest figures, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth tweeted: “Awful. Horrific. Devastating. And it didn’t have to be like this.”
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