In March 2020, we were told it would be a ‘’good outcome’’ of the pandemic if deaths in the UK were kept as low as 20,000.

Now, a far bleaker milestone has been reached: 100,000 deaths.

Health correspondent Catherine Burns looks at the past year of the UK’s epidemic and hears from families who have lost loved ones.

The Downing Street briefing today came just as news of more than 100,000 deaths in the UK of people with Covid was breaking, figures repeated by Boris Johnson.

He offered his condolences to all those who have lost a loved one.

Mr Johnson was joined by England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS.

Here's what they told us:

• Over the year since the start of the pandemic, a quarter of a million people have been treated by the NHS
• We will see more days with high death tolls in the coming weeks, as the infection rate remains high
• Over time, medical staff may be better able to treat the virus, but for now the infection rate will drive the death rate
• The new UK variant of the virus has changed the equation in terms of balancing case rates and lifting restrictions
• There was a promise to learn the lessons of this pandemic

Charlie Cooper from Politico asked the prime minister to give concrete examples of what the government is doing to prevent "the terrible loss of life we see today, as this will not be our last pandemic".

Boris Johnson says the UK not only conducts lateral flow tests but makes them, NHS Test and Trace is now a "colossal operation doing amazing work", and 47% of all the genomic analysis in the world is now done in the UK.

"You will have seen what this country has done in pioneering viable treatment for the virus.. .clearly we are out in front in the creation of vaccines," he says.

"None of that is, of course, any consolation for the terrible loss of life I've been forced to announce today... but our readiness for any future pandemic is colossal," he says.

Cooper asks Johnson: "Would you urge the EU against some of the controls of exports of vaccines that have been suggested?"

The prime minister says: "The creation of these vaccines has been a wonderful example of multi-national cooperation and one of the lessons the world has to learn from the pandemic is to cooperate so I don't want to see restrictions on the supply of PPE, drugs or vaccines or their ingredients across borders."

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

As the terrible milestone of 100,000 deaths is reached, Boris Johnson says he is “deeply sorry” for the lives that have been lost - and that he takes full responsibility for the government’s actions during this pandemic.

When he arrived at Number 10, Johnson was taking on a cause that he had owned and campaigned for: Brexit. He wouldn’t have foreseen the enormous and unprecedented health crisis that has now come to consume his time in office.

Politicians don’t necessarily get to choose what major events arise during their time in office but they are, inevitably, defined by and held accountable for how they handle them.

Today's toll of more than 100,000 covid deaths in the UK has "exhausted the thesaurus of misery", the prime minister said at his press conference.

"It's an appalling and tragic loss of life, there's no question about it," says Boris Johnson.

He was responding to a question from Paul Brand at ITV who says "20,000 covid deaths was once described as a good outcome - how would he describe today's figure of more than 100,000?"

England's chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty is explaining the logic behind the time gap between the first and second vaccine.

He says it was down to "the limitation of the vaccines we have available".

"If you give the vaccine twice to one person you can only give it to half the amount of people," he says.

"The great majority of the protection comes from the first vaccine," he says.

Speaking at Tuesday's Downing Street Briefing, Boris Johnson offered his "deepest condolences to everyone who's lost a loved one."

Asked if children in lower-case-number areas in England will be able to go back to school earlier than others, the PM says getting primary schools back is a "top priority".

There will be advice "well in advance" of such a development, he adds - repeating the pledge of education ministers.

Boris Johnson promises to look at "all those ideas" relating to a more regional approach.

On the controversy in the last few days on vaccine supplies and the EU, he says he hopes "our EU friends will honour all contracts" and the government "fully" expects that to happen, with supplies remaining intact.

Pippa Crerar from the Mirror asks the prime minister if he has spoken to any families who have lost loved ones to coronavirus.

Boris Johnson says: "Yes of course I've talked to families of the bereaved and will continue to do so, I offer my condolences to everyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one in the pandemic."

She says NHS staff in Scotland were given a £500 bonus for all their hard work through the pandemic and asks why NHS staff in England haven't been given the same.

Johnson says: "We had a three year pay package for nurses of 12.8% and will continue to invest record sums in the NHS."

Sir Simon Stevens says the staff he has spoken to want "respite from what has been an incredibly demanding and continuous year of pressure... to know that there are reinforcements on the way... and then to tackle the pressures in the here and now."

Boris Johnson says ministers will want to want to look very carefully at data on vaccination programme before confirming the timetable for reopening schools in England.

In answer to a question from Mark in Plymouth about the "government strategy" for ensuring no child is left behind, the prime minister said he accepted schools are the "best place" for pupils.

But he acknowledged there was a risk of "educational damage" to some students during lockdown.

He says: "We will work round the clock to come out of lockdown to make sure the kids who have suffered... from loss of learning... get the attention, the tuition and support they need.

"And we will make sure exams are fair... to reflect what everybody has been going through."

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The daily Covid figures have seen the number of deaths top 100,000. But they also contain some signs of hope.

Just over 20,000 new infections have been reported - down from 22,000 yesterday.

This compares to an average of 60,000 at the start of the year.

It is a sharp fall - although England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty cautions it may actually be a little slower than that. Not everyone who is infected comes forward for testing and the government surveillance programme which involves random testing of the population suggests the fall has not been quite so great.

Nonetheless, it is clear the infection rate is coming down - and that offers hope.

Hospital cases have plateaued and should soon start falling. That will eventually lead to a reduction in the number of deaths.

Then, in February, the vaccination programme should start having an impact, leading, hopefully, to a rapid drop in deaths.

Asked by Sky News's Sam Coates if some of the deaths could have been prevented, Boris Johnson repeats his comment that the government "did everything we could" to minimise loss of life.

It will continue to do so, he adds.

Prof Chris Whitty says the new, more easily spread variant of coronavirus has changed the situation considerably, making it harder to balance the risk of transmission with keeping society going.

Infection rates are "just about holding" steady with this strain in circulation and people "need to be realistic" about this, he adds.

Sir Keir Starmer said 100,000 Covid deaths in the UK was “twice the number we lost in the Blitz”.

After confirmation of the death toll reaching six figures on Tuesday afternoon, the Labour leader called it a “milestone nobody wanted to hit”.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks about the initial government hope that deaths would be contained to below 20,000, saying: "What went so wrong?"

The prime minister says he takes "full responsibility" for everything the government has done - adding ministers have done and are doing "everything we can" to defeat the pandemic.

Johnson says: "I am deeply sorry for every life lost."

Prof Chris Whitty declines to make "forward predictions" on death numbers, saying it is "realistic" that there will be "quite a lot" more.

Sir Simon Stevens adds that the infection rate drives the death rate, but he can see a world where coronavirus "may be more treatable".

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

A sombre opening, as you would expect, to today’s Downing Street press conference.

And the government will know that the tragic milestone of 100,000 deaths today will again raise questions about past decisions.

A future inquiry has been promised and – perhaps in a nod to that – Boris Johnson has just said that, once free from this virus, lessons will be learnt.

But, still in the teeth of this pandemic, it may be some time before those questions are properly explored and answered.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens thanks staff for their work over the last year.

It's a period during which more than 250,000 severely ill patients have been looked after in hospitals, he adds.

"This is not a year that anybody's going to want to remember," Sir Simon says, adding that it should also never be forgotten.

England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, takes us through the figures on what he calls this "very sad day".

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK peaked at an extremely high number, he says.

"It's still at a high number but it's coming down... we need to be careful we do not relax too early," he says.

He says there are 35,000 people in hospital.

"It's flattened off, (but) it's substantially above the peak in April," he says.

"It looks like it's coming down slightly in some areas, but in others it's not convincing," he says.

"The number of deaths has flattened out on a very high level," he says.

"We need to be realistic that that number will come down relatively slowly over the next two weeks."

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty is now going through the latest figures on the pandemic.

The deaths of a further 1,631 people in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid test has taken the overall death toll above 100,000 - but comes as the number of daily cases continue to fall.

Boris Johnson promises to commemorate the emergency services workers and "small acts of kindness" by the population as a whole.

He acknowledges the "immense national effort" to distribute vaccines.

After the crisis, the UK will "learn the lessons and prepare" for any future pandemics, the PM says.

The prime minister begins the briefing by saying it's "hard to compute the sorrow" behind the UK death toll passing 100,000. He offers his condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.

Boris Johnson promises the nation will "come together" to honour those lost when the crisis is over.

Image source, Reuters

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK Covid death toll passing 100,000 is a "national tragedy".

In a statement, he described the figures as a "terrible reminder of all that we have lost as a country".

He added: "We must never become numb to these numbers or treat them as just statistics. Every death is a loved one, a friend, a neighbour, a partner or a colleague. It is an empty chair at the dinner table.

"To all those that are mourning, we must promise to learn the lessons of what went wrong and build a more resilient country."