Coronavirus: UK reports 397 daily COVID-19 deaths - highest figure since May
England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned it is "realistic" deaths could soon match the April peak.
Tuesday 3 November 2020 22:28, UK
The UK has reported 397 daily coronavirus deaths, the highest number since May.
The country also recorded a further 20,018 new COVID-19 cases, compared with 18,950 on the previous day.
There were 136 deaths reported on Monday, although figures over the weekend are typically lower.
Daily coronavirus deaths have surpassed 300 on three days in the past week, although Tuesday's figure is the highest number since 27 May.
Earlier, England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it was an "entirely realistic situation" that deaths could match the peak seen back in April.
He said the number of deaths has been increasing "relatively steadily" over the last two or three weeks.
There were 10,377 COVID-19 patients in English hospitals on Tuesday, up from 8,171 a week ago.
Of these, 952 were on ventilation beds.
A total of 1,280 people with confirmed COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals in England on Sunday, the latest figure available, compared with 1,186 a week ago.
:: Subscribe to the Daily podcast on , , ,
England is preparing to go into a second national lockdown on Thursday, while Wales is already under a "firebreak" lockdown.
Northern Ireland is under tighter restrictions, with pubs and restaurants closed for four weeks, but it does not amount to a full-scale lockdown.
In Scotland, a tiered system came into force on Monday, with Glasgow, Edinburgh and all other towns in the Central Belt facing the tightest restrictions.
Meanwhile, the NHS is being told to prepare for a potential vaccine rollout which could happen as early as next month, Sky News understands.
Family doctors will receive a "directed enhanced service" (DES) from next week setting out how they deliver the service, according to a report by GP magazine Pulse.
However, this is based on a vaccine being approved by regulators as safe and effective.
Currently, no vaccine candidates have been approved for use in the UK - but two frontrunners are expected to pass on clinical data to regulators within weeks.