NHS counts cost of Christmas in lives and warns worst is yet to come

As Covid death toll passes 1,300 a day, doctors and hospital leaders say services are on brink of collapse

In normal times, January is the month for counting the cost of Christmas. The credit card bills arrive. New year resolutions are made. The consequences of recent indulgence have to be faced.

This year, however, the price of having celebrated Christmas with loved ones could be far steeper - and counted in lives. Doctors and nurses in the NHS report that they are seeing record numbers of admissions of people with Covid-19.