Coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK have risen by 332 in a sharp drop on the 403 recorded last Tuesday.
The latest figures, show 293 Covid-19 patients have died in England in the last seven days, with 24 in Scotland, nine in Wales and six in Northern Ireland.
Of England's deaths, 75 were in the Midlands, 63 in Yorkshire and the North East, 55 in the North West, and 31 in London.
Just 16 of those who have died were aged under 60.
Last Tuesday's figures were the highest in seven days but did show a slight dip in week-on-week deaths, with the previous Tuesday (December 3) and November 24 both recording 422 coronavirus deaths in hospitals.
By comparison, the week before that (November 17) recorded 410 deaths.
Figures usually show a small increase on Tuesdays due to a lag in weekend reporting.
With the mass roll out of the Pfizer vaccine across England's GP surgeries also in the large part starting today, there is some hope that a third wave can be avoided.
November, arguably the peak of the second wave, recorded some of the highest death tolls in hospitals since May.
It comes as the number of excess deaths that have occurred in private homes in England and Wales since the start of the coronavirus pandemic passed 36,000.
Excess deaths are the number of deaths that are above the average for the corresponding period in the previous five years.
There were 36,369 excess deaths in homes in England and Wales registered between March 7 and December 4, according to the ONS.
Of this total, 3,322 - 9% - were deaths involving Covid-19.
Any death involving Covid-19 is counted as an excess death because Covid-19 did not exist before this year.
England is awaiting a review of the lockdown tiers on Wednesday and latest coronavirus rates for every area shows if your town might move up - or down - a level.
A total of 10.8million extra people will go into Tier 3 tomorrow already as cases continue to surge.
London, parts of Essex and parts of Hertfordshire will plunge into very high alert lockdown early - from 12.01am - with Matt Hancock confirming cases in the capital have exploded "off the chart".
Despite pressure to scrap the Christmas truce, MPs have been told it will stay - but there will be heavier messaging around the risk it poses to elderly relatives.
Between 23 and 27 December, three households can mix regardless of tier.
