The UK’s COVID-19 death toll has officially passed 150,000.
The total number of deaths reported within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test now sits at 150,057, making it the fourth-highest death toll in the world behind Brazil, India and the US. It comes after the latest daily figures showed a further 313 coronavirus-related fatalities.
Case numbers have been soaring also, with a further 146,390 positive cases being reported in the new figures, taking the country’s total to more than 14 million.
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics also show more than 173,000 deaths registered in the UK with COVID-19 cited on the death certificate, as per Sky News.
Amid the push for people to get ‘boosted’ with a third jab, more than 47.6 million people have received two doses of the vaccine.
There has been some discussion over the possibility of a fourth jab, but UK vaccine experts believe it’s not yet necessary as protection against hospitalisation three months after the dose remains at about 90% for those over the age of 65, BBC News reports.
Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of Spi-M, also told Times Radio that COVID could become as mild as the common cold in time. ‘We’re not quite there yet but possibly Omicron is the first ray of light there that suggests that may happen in the longer term,’ he said.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
