⯀ Record daily death toll as UK tops 100,000:
Hospital intensive care units (ICUs) face being overwhelmed unless coronavirus rates are brought under control, Boris Johnson admitted after a record day of reported deaths saw the UK pass 100,000 Covid fatalities.
Mr Johnson’s stark warning came as the daily reported death toll reached a new high, with 1,564 fatalities recorded within 28 days of a positive test.
The latest figures mean the grim milestone of more than 100,000 deaths involving coronavirus has now been passed in the UK, according to official data.
The Prime Minister told MPs: “If you ask me when do we think that the ICU capacity is likely to be overtopped,
I can’t give you a prediction for that.
“But all I can say is that the risk is very substantial and we have to keep the pressure off the NHS and the only way to do that is to follow the current lockdown.”
The latest official figures on the coronavirus dashboard show more than 36,000 people are in hospital with coronavirus, including almost 3,500 on ventilation.
Mr Johnson told the Commons Liaison Committee that “the situation is very, very tough indeed in the NHS” and “the strain is colossal” on staff
Earlier, at Prime Minister’s Questions Mr Johnson said that vaccinations would take place 24/7 as soon as possible, although supply of doses remained the main barrier to this.
The overall number of deaths registered in 2020 was provisionally 75,925 higher than the average for 2015 to 2019.
Compared with 10 and 20 years ago, the number of deaths was higher in 2020 by 123,636 and 75,504 respectively, the ONS added.