The UK's coronavirus death count has shot up by 102 over the past day, with almost 21,000 new cases.
It is the highest rise in deaths on a Monday since May 25, when 104 fatalities were recorded.
Of the latest deaths, 90 happened in England, six in Wales, five in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland.
Meanwhile, 20,890 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 894,690.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to rule out bringing in tier 4 restrictions as cases continue to soar across the country.
Tier 3 restrictions will come into force in Warrington tomorrow, banning household mixing and closing pubs which do not serve 'substantial meals'.
Some 103 coronavirus patients died in UK hospitals in the past 24 hours.
The overall coronavirus death count daily update is sometimes lower than the hospital one as the two numbers are calculated differently.
The latest hospital deaths include 91 victims in England, six in Wales, five in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland.
The North West recorded the highest number of deaths in England with 29, followed by the North East and Yorkshire, which saw 24.
Those who died in England were aged between 44 and 95, and all had known underlying health conditions.
A week ago there were 84 confirmed hospital fatalities - the highest figure on a Monday since early June.
By comparison, the tolls announced on recent Mondays were 43 on October 12, 10 on October 5, 10 on September 28 and 12 on September 21.
Later today the Department of Health and Social Care will announce the latest daily figure in all settings.
Yesterday 151 deaths were recorded across the UK, while 19,790 people tested positive in 24 hours.
It comes amid optimism in the scientific world about how quickly a vaccine could be available.
Professor Adrian Hill, founder and director of the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, claims that the vaccine is to get approval ahead of Christmas so it can be used on medics and the elderly before the trial has finished.
The vaccine will then be rolled out to the rest of the UK from early 2021, according to Professor Hill.
According to the Daily Mail, while speaking online to members of Oxford's Magdalen College, Professor Hill said: “The initial licence would be for emergency use, not full approval.
“They will want to see more data on safety and maybe efficacy before they give a licence to vaccinate everybody. In this country, our priorities are pretty clear... we're going to vaccinate high-risk individuals before we vaccinate the young, the fit and healthy who are at lower risk. I think most countries will do that.
“So what we're looking for this year is an 'emergency use' authorisation that will allow us to go and vaccinate those most at risk as a priority, then early next year everybody else."
