Here's a round-up of some of the main coronavirus talking points from the last 24-hours:

  • The UK recorded its highest number of Covid-19 deaths reported on a single day on Friday. The Government said on Friday that 1,325 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began. There were a further 68,053 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, the highest figure reported in a single day since the start of mass testing last May, although it may have been higher in April 2020 when mass testing was not taking place, with cases estimated to have been as high as 100,000 per day at the peak of the first wave. In our region there were a further 2,015 cases on the previous day, bringing the region's total to 166, 510 since the start of the pandemic.

The Northern Echo:

  • A third vaccine in the fight against coronavirus has been approved for use in the UK. The jab, from US biotech firm Moderna, has been given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) –  joining the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca.
  • In London, mayor Sadiq Khan declared a 'major incident' as the spread of coronavirus threatens to 'overwhelm' the capital’s hospitals. City Hall said Covid-19 cases in London had exceeded 1,000 per 100,000, while there are 35 per cent more people in hospital with the virus than in the peak of the pandemic in April. A major incident means the severity of the consequences associated with it are 'likely to constrain or complicate the ability of responders to resource and manage the incident'. Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England’s regional director for London, said: “This is the biggest threat our city has faced in this pandemic to date. The emergence of the new variant means we are setting record case rates at almost double the national average, with at least one in 30 people (in London) now thought to be carrying the virus."

The Northern Echo:

Hospital Matron Lindsey Izard, 47, said staff had been given no respite when coronavirus admissions fell during the summer, because the hospital was trying to catch up with postponed procedures Picture: PA

  • A 'large number' of 'exhausted' intensive care staff may decide to leave the profession once the coronavirus pandemic is over, a matron at a London hospital has warned. Lindsey Izard, who works in intensive care at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, said staff are so stretched as admissions soar that they are having to make compromises on the ward. She told the PA news agency: “I think nurses and doctors are struggling with the fact we can’t give the care we would normally give to these patients. That sits really hard with nurses. Staff are exhausted, and on top of the exhaustion is the fact they have to compromise patient care, in their eyes. "I really do think a lot of people have thought 'This is the writing on the wall for me as a nurse, I’m not sure I want to do this again'. ICU nurse Ameera Sheikh, 28, who is a Unite union representative, said that across the country some of her colleagues “are so burnt out that they can’t eat”.