COVID-19: Another 678 UK deaths reported as vaccination total passes 13.5m
Written by News on 12/02/2021
Another 678 COVID-related deaths have been reported in the UK, as the number of people to have received a first dose of a vaccine passed 13.5m.
The number of fatalities is down on the 1,001 recorded on Wednesday, according to the latest government daily figures.
A further 13,494 new cases of COVID-19 were also reported, compared with 13,013 yesterday.
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It brings the total number of deaths in the UK to 115,529 and coronavirus cases to 3,998,655.
A further 450,810 first doses of the coronavirus vaccine were adminstered, meaning 13,509,108 people in the UK have now received a jab.
Earlier it was revealed almost a third of all hospital patients who needed treatment for coronavirus in England during the pandemic were admitted last month.
Hospitals treated 242,307 patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 in 2020, the data shows.
This compares with the 101,956 patients who were treated in hospitals in January this year.
The figures come as the number of people waiting more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment in England is at its highest level since 2008.
There’s hope for some of those admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 in the shape of an anti-inflammatory drug usually given for rheumatoid arthritis.
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A Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial using the medicine tocilizumab showed it could help save lives in one in 25 such cases.
It can also shorten the time spent in hospital by up to 10 days and reduce the need for a mechanical ventilator.
There was embarrassment for ministers on Thursday as the new online booking system for long-awaited government-managed quarantine hotels suffered technical problems within hours of going live.
Some users hoping to book their hotel quarantine stays from next week, as part of tougher COVID border measures, were soon met with a message that the new online portal was undergoing “maintenance” until 3pm.
Problems were also discovered with availability for the first two days of the new quarantine policy, which is due to come into force on Monday.
(c) Sky News 2021: COVID-19: Another 678 UK deaths reported as vaccination total passes 13.5m
