The official death toll from the COVID 19 pandemic rose above 150,000 on Saturday, according to government figures, after a record wave of cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Some 313 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID- 19 test were reported on Saturday, taking the total number of deaths on this measure to 150,057.
A broader but less timely measure of deaths with COVID 19 on the death certificate - which includes deaths early in the pandemic when testing was limited - stood at 173,248 as of the last data on December 24.
The number of deaths recorded today has reached 150,000, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said the disease has taken a terrible toll on our country. He said that the only way out of this epidemic is for everyone to get their booster or their first or second dose if they haven't yet.
In recent weeks, Britain has seen a surge in cases linked to the Omicron coronaviruses, although death rates have been lower than during previous infection waves.
The government is focusing on rolling out booster vaccines - which have reached more than 60% of the population - rather than requiring a return to the lockdown measures seen earlier in the epidemic.
Some 1.227 million people have tested positive for COVID- 19 during the past seven days, 11% more than the week before, while the week-ago death rate was up 38% on the week before, at 1,271.
There are tentative signs that the number of new cases may have peaked, with 146,390 new cases reported on Saturday, down from the record 218,724 recorded on January 4.
Britain's death toll is the second-highest in absolute terms in Europe, behind only Russia's.
On a per-head basis, the United States, Italy, Belgium and several countries in eastern Europe have higher cumulative death rates. According to figures collated by Our World in Data, Britain's death rate is 7% higher than the European Union average.