UK records second highest number of Covid deaths in six months

More than 200 people died of Covid-19 in a single day for just the second time in six months. Official figures show 203 people died yesterday within 28 days of a positive test.

There were 31,564 new confirmed coronavirus cases and a further 861 people were admitted to hospital with the virus. The death count is the second highest since early March, after 207 died at the start of September.

Both deaths and hospitalisations from Covid appear to have returned to March levels. A number of key indicators reveal the pandemic situation is similar to the end of the winter wave, with cases remaining persistently high despite the progress of the vaccine rollout. 

According to data published by the Office for National Statistics, 159,000 people in the UK have died of Covid. The percentage of people aged 16 and over double jabbed is now 81.9%, providing protection against serious illness.A member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the government on vaccine policy, said there will be ‘very uncertain times’ over the coming months.

Professor Adam Finn he told Times Radio: ‘Things are changing all the time and although we have some insight into the future and we’ve learned a lot about the vaccine programme and other things, there is still a high level of uncertainty.

‘With people interacting and behaving more normally, we are going to see the circulation of infections that more or less disappeared last winter, and they are going to provide an additional burden.

‘We don’t really know what’s going to happen with the trend in cases of Covid but it’s certainly still circulating. So I think we’re entering very uncertain times.’