UK registers 1,610 coronavirus-related deaths in a day

London [UK], January 20 (ANI/Sputnik): The United Kingdom's COVID-19 death toll rose by 1,610 on Tuesday, the largest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic, the UK Department for Health and Social Care said.

The UK has faced a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths since the discovery of a new highly infectious variant of the disease in southeast England in December. The latest increase tops the previous record of 1,564 fatalities set on January 13.

According to government data, 91,470 people have died in the United Kingdom within 28 days of testing positive for the coronavirus disease, giving the country the world's fifth-highest death toll.

Additionally, 33,355 new positive tests for COVID-19 were registered by the department over the past 24 hours, taking the country's case total past 3.46 million.

The United Kingdom's four nations are currently under various degrees of lockdown measures as ministers look to curb the rapid spread of the new COVID-19 strain, which is thought to be up to 70 percent more transmissible.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced earlier on Tuesday that he would be self-isolating for the next six days after receiving an alert by the National Health Service's COVID-19 contact tracing application. (ANI/Sputnik)