And there we have had confirmation that the death toll in the UK from coronavirus, according to the government's figures, has now exceeded 100,000.

That very grim milestone that we had bean expecting eso Let me just give you the figures in the last 24 hours within 28 days of a positive test that is 1631.

So that brings the total people who died.

Uh, toe 100,100 on 60 to our political correspondent, Nick Eardley.

Joins me now at Westminster.

Uh, Nikas, we say a very grim milestone.

And we're gonna hear from the Prime Minister about this in a very in just a few minutes time from Downing Street?

Yeah, I think that's the main thing Boris Johnson will want to address in the press conference.

Ben, we've got used to these figures, haven't we?

We put them out every day, but this is another reminder off the human tool that the past 10 months off pull together to get through this.

Clearly, this is another really difficult day.

A za part off the pandemic is only 10 months since Sir Patrick Violence, the chief scientific advisor was saying that would be a good outcome for the UK toe.

Have 20,000 deaths from this virus.

We're now at the point where 100,000 people have been confirmed dead 28 days or less after having ah, positive covered test.

Clearly, things have got considerably worse than they wear.

When Sir Patrick Vallance made that grim comment last March, you know the difference now, I suppose, is we know the vaccine is being rolled out.

The government is pleased with the way that is going in hopes that that gives light at the end of the tunnel.

But it is another dark day in the pandemic.

On it's a dark day that will no doubt prompt many people to ask why the UK figure is so high in terms of deaths.

Eyes one of the highest in the world, of course, and there'll be questions.

Once again, I suppose, about the government's policy going right back to last year.

Was it too slow to lock down?

And also an analysis of all the Democrats demographic figures on statistics in this country, whether there are underlying factors about this country, underlying factors that mean that death told us so high.

That's right, because these figures do mean that prepare when you compare it to the population.

The UK has one of the highest death rates in the world.

Now there will be those who turn around and say, Look, it's probably too early to make any firm comparisons that different countries record deaths and different ways.

But there's no disputing the fact that the U.

K s death three is amongst the highest in the world, and I suspect Boris Johnson will continue to face questions over why exactly that's happened.

And we know that he's faced criticism from political opponents, sometimes for not being decisive enough for not taking action as quickly as some people would have liked to have seen it when it came to things like lock down, of course, in the third locked down in England now.

But the government has faced questions over the speed at which it reaches some of those decisions to tell people not to go out the house.

I suspect we will hear more of them over the next few days as well, but I suspect the government will also want to point to the vaccine roll out and say, Look for all these terrible figures that we see on a daily basis Now that we're seeing again today with that 100,000 milestone, there is a way out off this pandemic.

The government thinks with the vaccine rollout, which for all the grim figures were used, Thio also shows some pretty positive figures.

You know, more than 6.5 million people in the UK have now received the first dose off the off one off the vaccines on some days that figures reaching nearly 500,000 people being given first dose off the vaccine, so the government will point to that as a potential way out.

But you know, there's no disguising these figures, Ben.

They are tough.

And the shore are pretty grim.