England's chief medical officer believes the UK coronavirus death toll, which now stands at almost 13,000, is approaching its peak but warned of grim figures to follow in the next 24 hours.
"On the issue of the peak, our view is that it is probably reaching the peak overall and that is what the flattening shows," Professor Chris Whitty said at a daily government crisis news briefing when asked about the number of people losing their life.
But any optimism was tinged with the prospect that high fatality numbers "will continue", Whitty said, confirming Britain as one of the worst affected countries by the global pandemic.
"I think it's important, and I am saying this because new data will come out presumably tomorrow. My expectation would be that the number of deaths may well go up."
Figures announced by the health ministry earlier Wednesday showed that 12,868 people in hospital have died from the coronavirus, a rise of 761 on the previous day.
That was slightly down from the 778 fatalities recorded on Tuesday but noticeably lower than a high of 980 deaths declared last Friday.
The number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK has now reached 98,476.
Whitty's comments came ahead of a government decision, expected on Thursday, to extend the lockdown and renew a stay-at-home order imposed three weeks ago to stem the spread of Covid-19.
The government has come under increasing pressure in recent days over the death toll as charities and others said it did not reveal the true scale of the number of fatalities in British care homes.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced at the same briefing, that people with relatives in care homes would be given the "right to say goodbye" if they were gravely ill with the virus.
Earlier in the day, Keir Starmer, the new leader of the opposition Labour Party, said it would support any government decision to extend the social distancing orders.
However, Starmer, who was elected Labour leader earlier this month, called on ministers to explain within a week their plan for easing restrictions, both to reassure the public and to give lawmakers time scrutinise it properly.
"People need hope, they need to know there's light at the end of the tunnel," Starmer told BBC radio.
In a letter to the government, he also warned: "We cannot repeat mistakes that have already been made on testing and access to protective equipment."
