COVID-19: Another 33,364 people test positive for coronavirus as deaths rise by 215
A further 215 people in Britain have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.
Monday 21 December 2020 19:19, UK
Another 33,364 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK in the latest 24 hour period.
It follows a record daily high of 35,928 new infections reported on Sunday.
There have been 215 more deaths confirmed within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, down from Sunday's figure of 326.
The new figures bring the UK's total number of confirmed coronavirus-related cases to 2,073,511, with 67,616 deaths.
In hospitals in England, 190 deaths were reported among patients aged between 41 and 103, and each had tested positive for coronavirus. Eight other deaths were reported with no positive COVID-19 test result.
Wales has reported 10 new deaths, Northern Ireland confirmed seven more and Scotland's number of deaths did not rise.
Sunday's record number of daily cases across the UK was in part blamed on a newly-discovered strain of the virus, which is spreading in London and England's southeast.
That has prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to enforce new Tier 4 restrictions in those regions, while rules have also been tightened in Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is due to enter a six-week nationwide lockdown from Boxing Day.
Mr Johnson has said the new strain could raise the R number - the rate of transmission - by "0.4 or greater".
Meanwhile, by government advisers on Friday show 0.4 to be at the lower end of the estimate.