Post Desk : There have been a further 16,170 coronavirus cases and 648 deaths recorded in the UK in the past 24 hours.

The latest government figures bring the total number of coronavirus cases in the UK to 1,643,086 – and the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test to 59,699.

It comes as the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use.

The government says the jab, which has been given the green light by independent health regulator MHRA, will be rolled out across the UK from early next week.

Meanwhile, separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, suggested there have now been 75,000 UK deaths.