UK reports 193 new COVID deaths, 34 029 cases

Britain reported 193 deaths on Friday of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 28 days and an additional 34 029 cases.

The government figures show a drop from the 214 deaths and 37 269 new cases reported on Thursday.

COVID-19 prevalence

The prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England remained at around 1 in 50 people in the week ending October 30, a school half-term break, Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday, steadying at its highest level of the year.

The ONS said that prevalence was unchanged from the previous week, after five straight weeks of rising infections.

The ONS said that the trend was “uncertain” in the latest week after infections had been on the rise leading up to the half-term break, which for most schools started on October 25.

The reproduction “R” number in England also turned lower and could be below one, another piece of evidence that a recent dip in daily reported cases could be due to a shrinking pandemic and not just trends in testing during the holiday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted calls to move to plan B, involving mask mandates, vaccine passes and work from home orders, and is leaning on booster vaccinations and shots for children to avoid lockdown this winter.

However, prevalence remains at high levels as students return to school. Britain is averaging 40 000 new cases each day and has reported 141 000 deaths from COVID-19.

Infection rates decreased for older, senior school children over the week, the ONS said, dipping to 7.5% from 9.1% the previous week, but prevalence remained the highest in those children.