The UK has recorded its deadliest day in the coronavirus pandemic, as the nation's chief scientist warns parts of the nation's health system are like a "war zone".
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Official figures showed January 12 had the highest number of deaths recorded on a single day, with 1110 COVID-19 fatalities, eclipsing the previous peak of 1073 on April 8, 2020.
A record 1820 further deaths within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 were also reported on Wednesday, although there is a time lag between a patient dying and appearing in the statistics.
The grim statistics appeared as authorities gave a stark warning about the strain the pandemic was putting on UK hospitals.
"This is very, very bad at the moment, with enormous pressure, and in some cases it looks like a war zone in terms of the things that people are having to deal with," Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance said.
There was "light at the end of the tunnel" in the form of the vaccination programme, which has so far helped 4,609,740 people receive a first jab.
But Sir Patrick warned that vaccines were not doing enough of the "heavy lifting" at the moment to consider easing lockdown restrictions in Britain.
"You go for a walk in the park or something, life looks normal. You go for a walk in a hospital, if you work in a hospital, you will see life not looking normal at all," he told Sky News.
He suggested tougher measures could have been needed earlier in the pandemic.
"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."
There are signs the lockdown measures in England are having an impact, with cases in London falling to their lowest weekly average since mid-December.
All regions of England are continuing to show a week-on-week fall in seven-day rates, although levels are dropping faster in some areas than others.
The UK's death toll is now more than 91,000 - Europe's worst figure and the world's fifth highest after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for reacting too slowly to the crisis, failing to supply sufficient protective equipment and for bungling the testing system, although the UK has been swift to roll out a vaccine.
"Every single death is deeply tragic," Home Secretary Priti Patel told radio station LBC.
"There's no one factor as to why we have such a horrendous and tragic death rate."
Australian Associated Press
