The number of confirmed coronavirus cases recorded in the United Kingdom has now surpassed three million, as the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to mount amid growing fears about the fast-spreading new variants of the virus.

The government has launched a new public awareness campaign to get people to better comply with coronavirus restrictions, with Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty appearing in a video advertisement urging people to stay home as much as possible, protect the National Health Service (NHS) and save lives.

Medical workers transfer a patient from an ambulance at the Royal London Hospital [Simon Dawson/Reuters]Last week, the government announced what is now the third national lockdown as it battles a new, more contagious variant of coronavirus that has swept across Britain.

The number of COVID-19 patients treated in hospital in London was up in the first week of January alone by almost a third, and the number of artificially ventilated patients rose by more than 40 percent, according to Khan.