Covid-19 infections 'may have risen' at start of current lockdown

A woman wearing a face mask is seen in a bus in London, Britain, Jan. 8, 2021.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where COVID has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 111,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

A total of 363,508 first coronavirus vaccinations were administered yesterday, the highest daily figure to date.

The UK has reached a grim record of reporting about 1,820 people dying in a day, higher than the number for Tuesday of 1,660.

People wearing face masks walk on a street in Kingston upon Thames, Britain, on January 21, 2021.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,543,646 people are now confirmed to have been infected with the virus.

The country is on a strict lockdown due to a new strain of the virus, which scientists say is more contagious and severe.

Earlier Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that it is "too early to say when restrictions will be lifted".

But Public Health England said NHS Test and Trace data showed case rates were falling in all age groups and regions in England.

"It may not look like it when you go for a walk in the park, but when you go into a hospital, 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", Vallance said.

Britain had imposed a third national lockdown on January 5.

At the same time, Northern Ireland announced that its current coronavirus lockdown restrictions - which first began after Christmas - will be extended to 5 March.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.