Southampton scientist warns Covid deaths will continue to rise after record daily toll
The UK recorded its highest daily death toll on Tuesday at 1,610
A Southampton scientist is warning deaths from coronavirus will continue to rise for some days to come.
The UK recorded its highest daily death toll on Tuesday at more than 1,600.
Dr Michael Head, a global health researcher at the University of Southampton said the lockdown is starting to reduce the number of new infections.
But the lag between people becoming infected and then being admitted to hospital means deaths will probably not start coming down until towards the end of the month.
Dr Head, said there could be further "record-breaking'' days concerning the number of newly reported deaths.
"The lockdown is starting to show an effect on new cases per day,'' he said.
"However, a proportion of the cases from early January will be admitted to hospital approximately this week, and deaths from those cases will likely peak around the end of this month.
"Therefore, we will alas see several more 'record-breaking' days in terms of newly-reported deaths.
"Over the coming weeks, the combination of the lockdown and the impact of the vaccine rollout will start to translate into a reduction of severe Covid-19 cases.''
His warning came after the UK recorded a further 1,610 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday - the highest number reported on a single day since the outbreak began.
Public Health England (PHE) said the figure - for those who had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 - brought the UK total to 91,470.
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 108,000 deaths involving the virus in the UK.
PHE medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle said coronavirus-related deaths would "continue for some time throughout this second wave''.
"Whilst there are some early signs that show our sacrifices are working, we must continue to strictly abide by the measures in place,'' she said.
"By reducing our contacts and staying at home we will see a fall in the number of infections over time.''
Ministers have insisted the programme to vaccinate 14 million of the most vulnerable - including elderly care home residents, frontline healthcare staff and the over-80s - by mid February remains on track.
But while more than four million people across the UK have now received a first dose, the latest figures show the numbers getting the jab have fallen in recent days, from more than 324,000 on Friday to just over 204,000 on Monday.