The UK reported 1,325 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, marking the highest daily death toll to date.
Why does it matter: The massive increase in deaths is partly fueled by a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant, which is spreading rapidly in the UK and threatening to overwhelm hospital systems.
Between the lines: The figure is even worse per capita than the 4,000 deaths recorded by COVID-19 reported in 24 hours in the US on Friday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” due to the virus, which infected 1 in 30 Londoners.
The whole picture: The UK, which has been in a complete blockade for at least the next six weeks, was the first country in the world to approve and start administering both the Pfizer vaccine and the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.
- Earlier on Friday, British regulators removed the Moderna vaccine for emergency use.
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that although the new variant of coronavirus is more transmissible, there is “no evidence to suggest that the variant has any impact on disease severity or vaccine efficacy.”