UK reports record number of new Covid-19 infections as number of cases continues to rise

GREAT BRITAIN HAS REPORTED a record number of new Covid-19 cases as it continues to fight an increase in infections caused by a variant strain of the disease.

Official figures released this afternoon showed that 41,385 new cases had been registered as of 9 a.m. today. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 2,329,730.

There were also 357 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to the UK government’s coronavirus statistics portal.

The official death toll from the virus in the UK now stands at 71,109.

Despite the record numbers, the number of deaths and cases is likely to be higher, as Scotland is not publishing data on deaths between 24 and 28 December and Northern Ireland does not provide data on cases or deaths during the same. period.

The alarming statistics come as a scientist advising Boris Johnson’s government said the UK is unlikely to achieve herd immunity through a Covid-19 vaccination program before the summer.

Calum Semple, professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), described the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine as a “game changer” if approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. . (MHRA) in the next few days.

But he told BBC Breakfast: “To get the general community to have herd immunity through vaccination rather than through natural infection, it will probably take 70-80% of the population to get vaccinated and that, I’m afraid, will take us well in the summer I hope.

With PA reports