The head of the National Police Chiefs Council said there'll be more officers on patrol to crack down on those who he called dangerous, selfish on totally irresponsible in the face of the current health threat.

The home secretary, Pretty Patel, has thanked the majority of people for complying with the rules, but blamed a minority who she said were putting the health of the nation at risk.

She said the current rules are tough enough, but under constant review.

Here's Our Home editor, Mark Easton.

Visitors are not welcome At the seaside south ends.

Beachfront car parks are locked peaked caps patrolling the shoreline.

With people restricted.

The rats are enjoying new freedoms.

This tourist town doesn't want non locals coming for a constitutional shouldn't be coming.

They shouldn't be traveling with 55 what locals with exercise?

Because I heard that concern about Boris Johnson used to going going from down street to the Olympic Park.

That's what really irritates me is I hear minister after minister say, don't go out, they don't follow it by, except for your exercise.

The news that the town's hospital is struggling to cope close to running out of oxygen yesterday has contributed to the sense of emergency.

Most people do seem to be obeying the rules.

South End looks like a place in lock down.

It feels as though the mood has changed in the last couple of days.

Police say they'll be quicker to find rule breakers, the strong public support for tougher enforcement and tighter restrictions as the appeals from health professionals become evermore desperate Way need to really focus on what the enforcement issues are.

Eso If the legislation was a lot tighter, it will make it a lot easier for our colleagues, the police force, to enforce what we're asking them to do.

I'm secretary were warned.

We may be facing a health service catastrophe.

So why other rules of this lock down?

Not as tough as they were last spring.

The rules are actually very simple and clear.

We are meant to stay at home and only leave home for a very, very limited number off reasons that didn't answer the question.

Of course, the concern is not about the clarity of the restrictions, but their strength pressed on the point.

The home secretary later said she thinks the current rules are tough enough, with police issuing tens of thousands of fixed penalty notices on finds the size of the party in a lack of engagement from people here, you are going to probably end up with up to a £10,000 fine, are successful.

Staged enforcement approach remains.

But we will not linger on encouragement for those who are choosing to break the rules.

The rules are clear on.

We need to abide by them if we are going to protect the NHS and save people's lives.

Psychologists advising the government say getting people to obey the rules may have less to do with confronting lawbreakers on MAWR with a focus on those who are following the guidance.

If you tell people everybody is doing this, stop it.

Actually, what happens is what people here is.

Everybody is doing it.

It begins to set a norm.

It told you.

If everybody else is doing it, why shouldn't I and so undermines the behavior?

Positive co vid tests in South End have bean falling in the past week, but 55 people from the town have also died from the disease in the last seven days.

What happens next is a matter of life and death.

Mark Eastern, BBC News, South End.

All right, up to political editor Vicky Young is in Westminster.

So the Home Secretary says the rules are tough enough, but constantly under review.

Yeah, I think the message from the government is shifting this week and there are various elements to it.

The first is trying to get across to people the perilous state.

We're in particular, of course, the rising number of deaths and the pressure on the NHS.

Uh, then they're talking about those breaking the rules on that suggestion there that the police will move more quickly from just warning people toe actually finding people really trying to shame people into doing the right thing on in the third element, it is more nuanced.

It's about personal responsibility.

Saying to people, Yes, there are lots of reasons why you can completely legitimately leave home.

But please think very carefully about that.

Do you really have to order that parcel?

Ongoing, collected?

Do you really have to go on dsi?

That friend cut down on those personal context.

And in the big question, there are these rules tough enough.

Well, no one will know that until they see a consistent fall in the number of cases.

That's what everyone is desperate to see.

But it's also why nobody is rolling out tighter measures.

Vickie Thank you.

The pandemic caused excess deaths in the UK last year to rise to their highest level since World War two.

Official statistics show there were nearly 85,000 more deaths in 2020 than would be expected, a rise of 14%.

Our health editor, Hugh Pym, has been talking toe one woman who lost her husband at Christmas.

He was kind hearted, ambitious, strong and he always thought about of the people.

Lisa remembers her husband, Adrian, who died on Boxing Day with co vid.

He was 55.

He had previous health conditions, but doctors said they were not a factor.

A za virus gripped his lungs, and he passed away in intensive care.

Adrian is no assistance stick.

It's not a number.

It was my husband.

It was family son Enough.

You a brother, friends too many.

And he was well known in our community because we had a business is, well, every cove in death is tragic for loved ones.

The statistics do make bleak reading, not least a time of lock down and concerns about the spread of the virus.

One measure of the overall impact of Kobe 19 is the total number of deaths from all causes set against what might be expected.

They were close to 697,000 U K deaths in 2020 more than 84,000 above the average in the previous five years.

That's a margin of 14% above that average.

So how does that compare with previous decades?

Well, it was the highest in 75 years.

Remember, each year is compared with the previous five reflecting medical knowledge on population health.

At the time.

Yeah, a czar me personnel joined the vaccination effort.

There are hopes that once enough jobs were carried out, fewer people will become seriously ill with cove it.

But before that happens, there are warnings off MAWR.

Grim news to come.

People who are dying now from covert 19 are people who will have been infected well before Christmas on.

Given that we know that cases have been going up since the beginning of December, We can expect to see deaths to go up a swell for several more weeks to come.

Older people are most a risk.

The highest number of co vid deaths in England and Wales have been among those who were 85 over, followed by 75 over.

But Lisa wants all adults to realize they could be vulnerable.

It can affect anybody.

I'm 45 I was bed bound for two weeks with it and I got through it.

But a dream was 55 years of age.

He was so young and we had so much still planned and people need to take now.

Above all, Lisa says, the public must know the heartbreaking consequences of letting the virus spread.

Hugh Pym BBC News The latest government figures show there were 45,533 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24 hour period, the second fall in two days.

It means on average, the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 55,653 across the UK and average off 32,520 people were in hospital with coronavirus.

Over the seven days to Sunday, 1243 deaths were reported.

That's people who died within 28 days of a positive cove in 19 test minutes, the second highest figure off this whole pandemic.

On average in the past week, 985 deaths were announced every day.

The total number of deaths so far across the UK is 83,203 on the UK has now started a program of mass vaccinations.

145,000 and 76 people have had their first dose of one of the three approved Cove in 19 vaccines in the latest 24 hour period, taking the overall number of people who've had their first job to more than 2.4 million.

Well, Hugh Pym is with me now.

Let's talk about that fall in the number of new cases.

How significant is it two days in a row?

Yes, Sophie.

Two days below 50 0.

At the end of last week, it was up about 60 0 and the crucial seven day rolling average with the trend that's fallen nine for three days.

So could this be the first sort of reaction to lock down restrictions imposed over the new year?

Well, it's probably a little early to say that there's a firm trend here.

Will need a few more days of data, but it is very interesting.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, cases have all fallen slightly.

It's the same in London and the south east of England, only a very small fall.

But they've been increases in other parts of England, particularly Northwest, which I think is a concern.

But hospital numbers up again.

The daily death toll, the second highest on record.

Those Airil lagging indicators They, as we heard earlier, reflect cases that were first picked up infections a couple of weeks back.

And they are likely, as we've been hearing, to carry on rising for a little while yet.

Keep him.