Coronavirus: Official UK death figures pass 70,000 on Christmas Day

More than two million people infected in UK since pandemic began as figure rises by 32,725

More than 70,000 people have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, the government has confirmed.

The revised figure, which includes 570 new fatalities, comes as the nation celebrates Christmas at the end of a year of disruption and death caused by the pandemic.

Department of Health figures placed the number of infections at 2,221,312 – an increase of 32,725 on the previous day’s number.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 86,000 deaths involving the virus in the UK.

The figures released on Christmas Day do not include any updates from Wales and Northern Ireland, which have temporarily paused their reporting of cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

Scotland has similarly not reported any deaths, but said 1,165 new cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours. The number is 4.3 per cent of all tests undertaken during that period, down from 5.3 per cent the day before.

The UK government’s Covid-19 dashboard will be updated every day during the festive period, but the amount of data being updated will vary.

As of 24 December, the UK’s R number is estimated to range between 1.1 and 1.3, the DHSC said.

The growth rate, which reflects how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, is estimated to be between 1 per cent and 6 per cent.

If the growth rate is greater than 0, then the epidemic is growing. If the growth rate is less than 0, then the epidemic is shrinking.

Earlier on Friday, Ireland confirmed that that the new UK-based variant of coronavirus had been detected in the country.

"I can confirm that we have detected the new UK variant of Sars-CoV-2 by whole genome sequencing at the National Virus Reference Laboratory" in University College Dublin, chief medical officer Tony Holohan said in a statement.

"Further testing in the coming days and weeks will establish the extent to which it is present here," he added. 

Separate data released on Christmas Eve showed that infection rates for Covid-19 are increasing across all regions of England.

Cases in London, which has emerged as the new coronavirus hotspot for UK, have trebled in just two weeks, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England (PHE).

The rate stood at 602.2 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 20 December, up from 200.3 in the week to 6 December.

Infections have increased throughout England, with the East recording the next highest rate after the capital (440.7) followed by the South East (380.6) and the West Midlands (218.8).

Case rates per 100,000 in England have also risen across all age groups, PHE said on Thursday.