Covid-19: UK touches zero death day milestone

Britain recorded zero daily Covid deaths on Tuesday (1), making it a unique milestone as this is the first time since March 7 last year that no one has died in the country from Covid-19.

Health secretary Matt Hancock described it as "undoubtedly good news", saying the UK's vaccine rollout, which began in December, is "clearly working".

"We know we haven't beaten this virus just yet," Hancock added, urging people to follow public health guidance.

The latest figures show 4.49 million cases in total, with 3,165 new cases and a total death toll of 127,782, the worst in any European country.

Tuesday's zero daily death came after the government reported just one Covid death across the UK on Monday (31). The figures come as a relief after the bleakest weeks of winter when daily death tolls touched more than 1,000.

The UK's daily death rate, the number of people being admitted to hospital and those catching the virus have reportedly fallen from the peak against the backdrop of the increasing numbers of people receiving the jabs with more than a third of the adult population having now received both the doses and some 74.9 per cent with the first dose.

Tuesday’s zero death has bolstered demands from industry groups for prime minister Boris Johnson to lift restrictions as planned during the fourth and final stage of unlocking on June 21.

However, the slight rise in the daily new positive cases (more than 3,000) for seven days in a row has sparked concern among the medical community. The increase comes amid the spread of the more transmissible Indian variant, now known as Delta variant, which is thought to account for up to three-quarters of new cases in the UK and has been linked to a surge in cases in some parts of the country, due to which medical experts have been calling the government to reconsider reopening.