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UK Records 1,401 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours

The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 95,981 – an increase of 1,401 over 24 hours.

The government also said that, as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 40,261 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total number of positive tests in the UK since the pandemic began to 3,583,907.

As the pandemic continues to ravage the UK, the daily death toll is regularly topping 1,000.

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 112,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

It came as , Boris Johnson warned the new variant of coronavirus that has emerged in the UK may be associated with a higher mortality rate.

The Prime Minister told a No10 press conference: “We’ve been informed today that in addition to spreading more quickly it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant, the variant that was first identified in London and the South East, may be associated with a higher degree of mortality.”

His warning came as the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said the variants which had emerged in South Africa and Brazil may be less susceptible to the vaccines that have been developed.

Sir Patrick said there was growing evidence from multiple sources that the vaccines will work against the UK coronavirus strain.

However, he said there was less certainty about the vaccines’ efficacy against those which had appeared in other countries.

“We are more concerned that they have certain features that they might be less susceptible to vaccines,” he said.

Sir Patrick said there were signs that there was an increased risk of death for those who have the new UK variant compared with the old virus.

He cautioned, however, that this was based on evidence which is “not yet...

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