UK coronavirus death toll rises by 612 as more than 25,000 test positive for virus

April Roach @aprilroach2816 December 2020

The UK has recorded a further 612 coronavirus deaths with more than 25,000 new confirmed cases of the virus.

The daily death toll figure is up from 533 deaths reported by the Government last Wednesday.

It brings the official death toll to 65,520. But separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies suggest there have now been 81,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.  

The Government said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 25,161 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. 

The number of infections today is 8,582 higher that a week ago when the UK recorded an additional 16,578 infections. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 1,913,277.

It comes after Boris Johnson addressed mounting concerns about easing coronavirus restrictions at a Downing Street press conference.

The Prime Minister said it would be “inhuman” to ban Christmas entirely and confirmed the festive bubble policy allowing households to mix would remain in place despite warnings it will lead to more deaths.

But he said people should “think hard” about what they do and a “smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas”.

Meanwhile Northern Ireland’s minister warned the region requires “extreme and robust” coronavirus restrictions to halt the spread of the virus.

A further eight Covid-19 related deaths were announced on Wednesday in Northern Ireland, along with 510 new cases of the virus.

Hospital capacity across the region stood at 105 per cent on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, queues of ambulances were witnessed at accident and emergency departments (EDs) across Northern Ireland as patients were treated in car parks due to a lack of capacity inside the hospitals.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland recorded 38 deaths of coronavirus patients and 689 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.

The death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – is now 4,173.

It differs from the National Records of Scotland death figures announced earlier on Wednesday as these include all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate and is 6,092 as of Sunday.

The guidance around household mixing at Christmas in Wales was tightened when the Welsh Government revealed the two-household limit for mixing during Christmas will be made into law.

The Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said one in five people in Wales are testing positive for the virus, while more than 2,100 people, equivalent to five full hospitals, were in hospital with symptoms, and a record 98 people were in intensive care with the virus.

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