Coronavirus news – live: UK reports new record daily death toll, as PM warns there is ‘more to come’

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s  live coverage of developments in the pandemic today.

Daily deaths from coronavirus will continue to rise towards the end of the month, scientists warned after the UK recorded its highest daily toll since the pandemic began.

The lag between people becoming infected and being admitted to hospital means deaths will yet rise due to infections from early January, warned Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton.

“The lockdown is starting to show an effect on new cases per day,” said Dr Head. 

“However, a proportion of the cases from early January will be admitted to hospital approximately this week, and deaths from those cases will likely peak around the end of this month," he continued, echoing a warning from Sage member Professor Andrew Hayward.

“Therefore, we will alas see several more 'record-breaking' days in terms of newly-reported deaths.

A hospital director in Israel, the country to have innoculated the highest proportion of its population so far, has questioned the UK’s decision to delay administering a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine to patients by up to 12 weeks.

Ronni Gamzu, who runs Tel Aviv’s Sourasky hospital, said that British scientists’ claim that the jab was 89 per cent effective even after only one dose was “very optimistic” and not matched in Israel’s “real-world findings”.  

UK figures, including chief medical officer Chris Whitty, have backed a delay in second vaccine doses, claiming it allows more people to be given some level of protection more quickly.

Read the full story from Sam Hancock here: 

Priti Patel has said the easing of lockdown restrictions will not come until priority groups have been vaccinated.

“We are at a pivotal stage. Our vaccine rollout is under way but we have a long way to go with vaccination," the home secretary told Sky News.

“We cannot talk about easing restrictions and measures until we are absolutely clear we have vaccinated priority groups.”

Later on BBC Breakfast, Ms Patel said: "We have a long way to go. The vaccine rollout is a positive step forward but we've obviously got to vaccinate a very significant number of the population, and that work is taking place."

Whole groups of workers, particularly freelancers and the self-employed, have been passed over by the government’s support scheme, MPs have found.

HMRC has been given six weeks to explain why some taxpayers have had no support during the pandemic, including some who should have been eligible for furlough payments.

Meg Hillier, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee of MPs, put the failure to support many workers down to out-of-date tax systems.  

Ethnic minority workers have been hit hardest by job losses during the coronavirus pandemic, according to analysis by the TUC.

Some 8.5 per cent of black, Asian and other minority workers were unemployed between July-September 2020, up from 7 per cent a year earlier, the trade union umbrella group found.

Minority workers are also more likely to be in part-time roles which have been at disproportionate risk of redundancy since the coronavirus arrived.

Ben Chapman has more on this:

Nine police officers in London have been fined £200 each for breaching coronavirus regulations by eating together in a cafe while on duty.

The Metropolitan Police officers were investigatd after photographs of them in uniform at a cafe in Greenwich were shared online earlier this month.

Chief Superintendent Rob Atkin, commander of the officers’ unit, said: “Police officers are tasked with enforcing the legislation that has been introduced to stop the spread of the virus and the public rightly expect that they will set an example through their own actions.

“It is disappointing that on this occasion, these officers have fallen short of that expectation. It is right that they will pay a financial penalty and that they will be asked to reflect on their choices.”

The government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said some coronavirus restrictions should be expected next winter and regular coronavirus vaccinations will likely be required in the coming years.

The leading physician told Sky News it should not be assumed restrictions will be lifted entirely by the end of the year, adding that mask wearing and indoor mixing will likely be focal points.

Though mass vaccination should lead the country into “a much better position” by summer, Sir Patrick said regular vaccination will likely be needed for at least a few years.

 “I think it's quite likely that those vaccines may need to change a bit as they do for flu every year. So I think that's quite likely that we're going to have to have some annual - maybe every two year - vaccination... but that will be planned in the way it's planned for flu as well."

The coronavirus pandemic could spark an increase in crime as court cases collapse and prisoners are released without rehabilitation work, justice inspectors have warned.

HM chief inspectors of prisons, policing, probation and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said lockdowns and restrictions had a “ripple effect” across the criminal justice system.

MPs were told that 53,000 cases are waiting to come before crown courts, and that the backlog had increased by 44 per cent between February 2020 and December.

Home Affairs Correspondent Lizzie Dearden has the full story:

Sir Patrick Vallance suggested the government should have done more, faster at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked what the government could have done differently as the virus took hold, the chief scientific adviser said the lesson learned was: “Go earlier than you think you want to, go a bit harder than you think you want to, and go a bit broader than you think you want to, in terms of applying restrictions.”

He continued: "I'm afraid that's a grim message but that is what the evidence says - you've got to go hard, early and broader if you're going to get on top of this. Waiting and watching simply doesn't work."