Today's grisly death toll marks a sharp 30 per cent rise on the 1,243 announced last Tuesday and nearly the double the number of victims a fortnight ago, when there were 860. It's the third time in a month that Britain has recorded a record number of daily fatalities, as the nation battles with the super-infectious Kent strain and hospitals juggle winter pressures. The darkest day in the pandemic prior to today was January 13, when the virus killed 1,564 people in a single 24-hour period. But, in another sign that the national shutdown is taking effect, there were 33,355 new infections announced in the past 24 hours, down 27 per cent on the 45,533 last Tuesday and 45 per cent lower than the 60,916 two weeks prior. Fatalities lag by a few weeks behind infections due to the time it takes between catching and falling seriously ill with Covid, which means the effects of the January 4 shutdown might not be felt in the death figures until next week.
