Coronavirus news – live: UK reports new record daily death toll, as PM warns there is ‘more to come’
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Your support makes all the difference.The government has released figures showing a record number of daily deaths for the second day running, as 1,820 people died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus – the highest number since the pandemic began.
Prime minister Boris Johnson blamed the “appalling” death toll on a new variant of the disease as he warned “there will be more to come”.
The leap in fatalities - up more than 10 per cent on the previous record - came as the team behind the Oxford vaccine was understood to be planning new versions of its jab in response to the different coronavirus variants that have emerged in the UK and elsewhere.
Scientists at the university were found to be assessing the ability of their jab to tackle new variants as another team of researchers found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was likely to provide protection against the one first detected in the UK.
The new study suggests the Pfizer jab can overcome a number of genetic changes in the virus after testing the vaccine against a synthetic virus with 10 mutations that are characteristic of the UK variant.
However, separate research has suggested that vaccines may be less effective against the new variant of coronavirus that emerged in South Africa.
Vaccination centre shuts for horse race
A Covid-19 vaccination centre set up at a racecourse in southern England is temporarily shutting on Wednesday to allow a race to go ahead — just days after the facility opened.
The vaccine hub at Newbury racecourse in Berkshire opened last Thursday following a test run but will close for 24 hours today so a scheduled race can take place.
Matt Mathers has more details below:
Covid vaccination centre closes for horse race
Local health team was reportedly aware scheduled race would go ahead as planned
Military to assist Northern Ireland health workers
Northern Ireland's health minister Robin Swann said there has been "intense negotiations" over recent days about securing assistance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the health service.
He said he made the formal request late last week when it was made known that a number of medical technicians were available to "help ease the huge strains on our hospitals, and on our nursing teams in particular".
He said more than 100 medically trained technicians will be supplied by the MoD.
‘There will be more to come,’ warns PM
Prime minister Boris Johnson has warned "there will be more to come" when asked by reporters about the record number of Covid-19 deaths.
New Covid variants found in dozens of countries
The UK variant of coronavirus has been detected in at least 60 countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
That is 10 more nations that just a week ago.
Fast-spreading new Covid variants found in dozens of countries, WHO says
Mutation that originated in UK detected in at least 60 countries
Vaccine efficacy may be ‘slightly diminished’ in face of South Africa variant
A leading scientist has said the ability of the Covid-19 vaccines to provide protection against the South African variant may be “slightly diminished” – though immunity is unlikely to be completely compromised.
Samuel Lovett explains more in the article below:
Vaccine efficacy may be ‘diminished’ in face of South Africa variant
501Y.V2 appears to have ‘some effect’ in limiting immune system’s ability to neutralise mutated virus, says Dr Richard Lessells
Boris Johnson warns of ‘tough weeks to come’
Prime minister Boris Johnson has stressed there are still "tough weeks to come" in the pandemic.
Speaking from Downing Street, he told the media: "We're going absolutely as fast as we can and it is literally a race against time, a race to protect the elderly and the vulnerable in the context of what is still a very, very tough pandemic.
"There are still tough weeks to come."
He added: "We must hope that by getting the numbers - the daily infections - down in the way that perhaps has been happening since the lockdown, that will feed through into a reduction in deaths as well.
“But I must stress we have tough weeks to come now as we roll out the vaccine.”
Covid death toll is ‘appalling’ and ‘more to come’, warns PM
The record daily death toll from Covid-19 is “appalling”, Boris Johnson has admitted – while warning there is “more to come”.
The prime minister blamed the 1,820 deaths on the “new variant that we saw just before Christmas”, despite criticism of him for allowing families to meet over the festive period.
Follow our breaking story:
Record coronavirus death toll is ‘appalling’ and there is ‘more to come’, Boris Johnson admits
The record daily death toll from Covid-19 is “appalling”, Boris Johnson has admitted – while warning there is “more to come”.
‘It would be absolutely crazy’ to allow new variants into UK, says PM
Prime minister Boris Johnson said it "would be absolutely crazy" to allow the new variants of the coronavirus to enter the UK while the vaccine is being rolled out because of lax border controls.
From Downing Street he told the media: "The rules now are designed to stop people coming back into this country and bringing infection back into the country while we're getting the vaccination rolled out.
"I think it would be absolutely crazy to be vaccinating our country as successfully as we are, and don't forget we're still doing more than any other country in Europe.
"It would be crazy to be doing that huge national effort while simultaneously allowing the virus or new variants of the virus to be reimported back into our country."
Calls for police to be vaccinated as officer hospitalised with Covid
An officer who has been hospitalised with Covid-19 after attending a protest highlights the need for police to receive priority vaccines, his force has said.
A Dorset Police officer present at an anti-lockdown rally in Bournemouth is being treated for a suspected blood clot on his lung after becoming unwell on Tuesday night.
Dorset Police Federation said they are supporting his family and the group's chair Anna Harvey said his hospitalisation is "a stark reminder of the extra risks our officers are facing", adding the Government are to blame for failing to prioritise police in the vaccine rollout.
"It saddens me to say that there is every chance this officer would not be in this position if police officers had been prioritised for the Covid-19 vaccine," she said.
Families of clinically vulnerable children face anxious wait for vaccine
The parents of a clinically vulnerable two-year-old shielding since the start of the coronavirus crisis have hailed the vaccine as the "light at the end of the tunnel" as they anxiously wait to be invited for the jab.
Obie Bee has a condition called VACTERL association, which refers to a collection of birth defects that can occur together, affecting his spine, digestive system, kidneys and heart.
The toddler's complex medical needs mean he is vulnerable to Covid-19 and the family-of-three, from Lincolnshire, began shielding in February last year.
Samantha Bee, 27, and her partner Daniel Bee, 36, fear contracting the virus and passing it on to their vulnerable son, as well as the potential of them both becoming ill and struggling to care for him.
The two jabs currently being rolled out in the UK are not licensed for use in children. Ms Bee told PA news agency that although it was "scary" not knowing if the two-year-old would be vaccinated, it would be "anxiety-relieving" if she and her partner received the jab.
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