Coronavirus deaths continue to fall as 82 further fatalities are recorded in the UK

This is the first time that fewer than 100 deaths have been reported since October 19
According to Government data a total of 124,501 people have died of Covid in the UK
PA

Coronavirus deaths continued to fall in the UK as a further 82 fatalaties were recorded in the UK on Sunday.

The daily rise is the first time that fewer than 100 deaths have been reported since October 19 and it brings the total death toll to 124,501.

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 145,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

Coronavirus infections rose by 5,177, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 4,218,520.

The latest Government data on vaccines shows that up to March 6, of the 23,335,514 jabs given in the UK so far, 22,213,112 were first doses – a rise of 416,834 on the previous day.

Some 1,122,402 were second doses, an increase of 31,562.

It comes as schools prepare to welcome pupils back into the classroom on Monday as part of the first stage of lockdown easing.

Boris Johnson said he is “very hopeful” the return of pupils will go to plan as he warned the risk of keeping classrooms locked outweighed a school-led spike in Covid cases.

The Prime Minister told reporters on Sunday: “You ask about the risk (of schools returning) – I think the risk is actually in not going back to school tomorrow given all the suffering, all the loss of learning we have seen.”

Amanda Spielman, England’s chief schools inspector, expressed concern about eating disorders and self-harming among children after she said pupils endured “boredom, loneliness, misery and anxiety” during the school shutdown since January.

In her final address as children’s commissioner for England last month, Anne Longfield said it was “impossible to overstate how damaging the past year has been for many children”.

Northern Ireland recorded a further three deaths with Covid-19 on Sunday.

Another 138 positive cases of the virus were also notified by the Department of Health on Sunday.

oris Johnson during a visit to a vaccination centre at Jesus House for All The Nations, a church in Brent, North London
PA

Meanwhile Scotland recorded no coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours and the second lowest number of new daily cases in 2020.

The latest statistics show 390 people tested positive in the past 24 hours, with no fatalities.

It means the number of people who have died with the virus remains at 7,421 under the daily measure.

While death figures tend to be lower at weekends when register offices are closed, the 330 case number is the second lowest recorded this year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in