More than 70,000 people in the UK have now died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, official figures show.

A further 570 deaths in the UK were reported on Christmas Day, taking the total by that measure to 70,195.

According to Johns Hopkins University, only the US, Brazil, India, Mexico and Italy have recorded more deaths from coronavirus.

The number of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England and Scotland increased by 32,725 on Friday.

It came as the number of tests conducted over the last seven days rose by more than 25% compared to the previous week.

The government explained that the amount of data available will vary over the Christmas holiday period, with any unreported deaths and cases recorded on the following days."As a result, any changes to published data should be interpreted with caution during this period, as they may be a result of changes to reporting schedules," it said.

According to Office for National Statistics data there have been than 81,361 excess deaths, those over and above what would usually be expected for the time of year, up to 11 December.

Levels of infection are continuing to rise in England, the ONS has said, with figures for the week to 18 December estimating nearly 650,000 people have the virus, up from 570,000 the week before.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55448561