UK records 313 new COVID-19 deaths, 146,390 cases

A health worker closes the door of an ambulance outside of the Royal London Hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in London, Britain, Jan. 7, 2022. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)

LONDON — Britain reported 146,390 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, down from 178,250 cases on Friday, while the number of new deaths reported increased to 313 from 229, official figures showed.

Britain has seen a surge of cases linked to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in recent weeks, though death rates have been lower than during previous waves of the disease.

Some 1.227 million people tested positive for COVID-19 during the past week, 10.6% more than the week before, while the number of deaths was up 38.3% on a week before at 1,271.

Total deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19 rose to 150,057.