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LONDON: Britain reported 41,385 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday (December 28), a daily record, as a rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus increases infection rates and the holiday weekend affected the notification of some new cases.
There were 357 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test, the government’s coronavirus statistics portal said.
“This very high level of infection is a growing concern at a time when our hospitals are most vulnerable,” said Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director of Public Health England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers have said that a variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible, was spreading rapidly in Britain, although it is not believed to be more deadly or cause more serious illness. .
That prompted strong social mixing restriction measures for London and the South East of England, while plans to ease restrictions during Christmas across the country were drastically lowered or removed entirely.
Johnson said last week that the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus meant tough times were ahead, and ministers have said more may need to be done.
READ: British hospitals battle for space as COVID-19 cases skyrocket
The rise in positive cases was also partly due to Northern Ireland reporting 1,634 new cases, with no cases having been reported on Sunday or Friday due to the Christmas holiday period.
It was unclear if an increase of nearly 11,000 cases in England was partly due to fluctuations in test numbers over the holiday weekend, as no data has been released on the number of people undergoing since Wednesday. to tests.
Britain has substantially increased testing capacity since the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring, from around 100,000 daily tests in late May to 500,000 tests on December 23, the last date that data on the number of tests performed.
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