Boris tries to scare us into lockdown: Whitty launches new government Stay at Home drive backed up by terrifying ads of dying Covid patients as Britain suffers record 1,325 deaths and 68,000 cases in a single day
The Prime Minister begged families to stay at home as he warned new infections were rising at alarming rate
England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is the face of the new advertising campaign from NHS
The UK recorded its highest number of Covid-19 deaths reported on a single day with 1,325 recorded dead
There were also 68,053 lab-confirmed infections of coronavirus across UK as No10 launched stark warning
Boris Johnson last night begged families to stay at home as the Covid-19 death toll hit a grim new record - with the Government launching a new campaign blitz to scare people into obeying lockdown rules.
England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty has appeared in adverts urging us to stay at home as the new variant of the virus rips across the country.
Two terrifying new posters also show a patient dying in hospital and a healthcare worker wearing full PPE, warning Britons: 'If you go out, you can spread it. People will die.'
Mr Johnson said that infections were rising at an alarming rate, despite the new national lockdown imposed at the start of the week.
And he warned the only way to prevent thousands more deaths was to follow the rules. The Prime Minister said: 'I know the last year has taken its toll.
'But your compliance is now more vital than ever. Once again, I must urge everyone to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.'
Another 1,325 Covid deaths were reported on Friday – nearly one a minute - and more than the peak of 1,224 in the first wave last April.
The grisly death toll - which has doubled in a week - takes the UK to the brink of almost 80,000 victims.
Experts fear the daily death counts will continue to spiral because of rocketing cases and hospitalisations, piling further pressure on Boris Johnson to speed up the sluggish vaccination programme designed to start getting Britain out of lockdown by mid-February.
Department of Health figures show the UK has recorded more than 50,000 cases for 11 days in a row, with the five worst days of the pandemic all occurring since the start of 2021. Cases have risen by almost 30 per cent week-on-week.
But a senior SAGE official today warned the actual number of Britons currently getting infected every day is closer to 150,000, claiming that the size of the second wave is now way worse than the first.
The source also fears England's third national lockdown will not ‘slam the R rate down as it did in March’ because the country was dealing with a more infectious mutated strain and because adherence to the rules has dwindled.
Amid calls for even tougher restrictions, ministers are considering making face masks mandatory in busy outdoor locations, such as supermarket queues.
As London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident, saying the virus was 'out of control' and threatening to overwhelm hospitals in the capital:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9127837/Boris-Johnson-begs-families-stay-home-Chris-Witty-appears-TV-ad-new-campaign.html