The UK’s official Covid death toll has surpassed 70,000 on Christmas Day, as 570 more people die with the virus.
A total of 70,195 people have now died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, 32,725 new infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours, meaning cases have increased by 45% in a week.
The new figures come from the Department of Health and Social Care and include deaths in all settings – including hospitals, care homes and the community.
The number of people who have Covid mentioned on their death certificate remains significantly higher at 79,349.
Families outside of tier four areas were able to mix with two other households to celebrate Christmas today.
However, Christmas was ‘cancelled’ for those living in London and the south-east as they were banned from forming bubbles to stop the virus spreading further.
Several more areas in England are set to be plunged into tier four from midnight on Boxing Day.
The areas which will be put under the harshest restrictions include the remaining areas of Essex not already under the strictest tier, Sussex, Hampshire (except the New Forest), Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
Waverley in Surrey will also be moved to tier four, as the rest of the county is already in the highest tier.
Other areas have also moved up a tier, with Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, North Somerset, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest, Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Warrington moving from tier two to three.
Cornwall and Herefordshire has also been moved from the lowest tier – tier one – to tighter tier two measures.
It comes as two ‘highly concerning’ mutant coronavirus strains are detected in the UK.
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