The UK's coronavirus death toll has increased by 290 - a 35 per cent drop on last Saturday's total - with the lowest daily number of confirmed cases since September.
A total of 122,705 have now died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, the fifth highest toll in the world. 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 143,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
Saturday's toll of 290 is the lowest since 230 fatalities were reported on December 26, though the total that day, Boxing Day, was lower due to some UK nations not reporting figures on the