LONDON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Britain has recorded almost 1,000 coronavirus deaths overnight, the highest daily death toll since April, according to the latest official figures released on Wednesday.

The daily number of deaths of people who had had a positive test result for COVID-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test reached 981, bringing the total to 72,548, according to the official figures.

This is the highest daily death toll reported in the country since April 24, when 1,010 coronavirus-related deaths were reported, there is likely to be a lag in reporting deaths over the Christmas period, the Evening Standard newspaper reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, another 50,023 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,432,888, the figures showed.

It is the second day in a row when more than 50,000 cases were reported in the country.

Earlier Wednesday, the British government announced that more areas, including Leicester City in England, will enter Tier Four, the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions in the country, meaning an additional 20 million people in the region will be living under the toughest measures from Thursday.

It means a total of 44 million people will now be in Tier Four, or 78 percent of the population of England.

Under the new tougher measures, residents in Tier Four areas must stay at home, with limited exemptions. People are also urged to work from home when they can, and should not enter or leave those areas.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop COVID-19 vaccines.