The UK has reported the deaths of 1,248 more people from coronavirus, bringing the national total to 86,015 since the pandemic began.

The figures relate to people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, meaning the true figure is likely to be higher. People whose death certificates mentioned Covid-19 already numbered close to 90,000 by the beginning of January, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile 48,682 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in 24 hours.

The daily death toll is down on the 1,564 recorded on Wednesday – the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began.

On Wednesday the total number of people who had died in the UK’s second wave swept past the first wave total, with the highest ever daily number of reported deaths from the illness.

That figure, like today’s update, referred to deaths that had been reported in 24 hours rather than deaths that had actually occurred within 24 hours. Here’s a primer on the main methods of counting Covid deaths and how to interpret them.