UK daily coronavirus cases rise above 50,000 for first time this week as 1,280 deaths reported

The number of daily coronavirus cases has rise above 50,000 for the first time in five days, despite hopes that the outbreak is slowing in parts of the UK.

A further 1,280 deaths of people within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 were also reported on Friday.

It is the first time daily infections have topped 50,000 since Sunday, and brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 3,316,019.

Earlier on Friday, the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies said the UK’s coronavirus reproduction rate — the R number — had narrowed to between 1.2 and 1.3.

In London, the region hardest hit by the new, more infectious variant of the virus, the R has fallen to between 0.9 and 1.2, from 1.1 to 1.4 the previous week, suggesting the capital’s outbreak is starting to slow under lockdown restrictions.

But as the latest figures for new cases and deaths show, the virus continues to wreak devastation across the UK.

According to the Department of Health, the total number of UK deaths of people within 28 days of a positive test now stands at 87, 295.

However, 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 102,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

On Wednesday the UK recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic, with 1,564 deaths.

Boris Johnson will hold a coronavirus Downing Street press briefing 5pm on Friday, flanked by England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and UK chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance.

Mr Johnson this week refused to rule out even tougher lockdown restrictions as hospitals come under growing strain from rising Covid-19 cases.

However he also indicated the curbs are starting to have an impact. That message appears to be supported by latest figures revealed by the Standard on Friday that shows infections rates are now falling in 22 London boroughs.

It came as provisional NHS data showed that more than 3 million people in England received a coronavirus vaccine between December 8 and January 14.

However, Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he is “hugely concerned” about the speed of the vaccine roll-out in London, where hospitals are at breaking point because of an avalanche of cases in recent weeks.

A travel ban on South America and Portugal came into effect at 4am on Friday amid concerns over highly infectious new variant from Brazil.

A virologist has confirmed a new strain from Brazil has been detected in the UK, but it is not more concerning one that sparked the latest international travel ban.

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