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The United Kingdom reported 183,037 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, a record and more than 53,000 more than the previous highest number recorded just a day earlier, according to government statistics.
The increase, caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, also coincides with an increase in the number of hospitalized patients who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Despite the increasing number of cases, the prime minister Boris Johnson It has said it will not introduce new restrictions in England this year to limit the spread of omicron, which now accounts for 90% of all community infections, according to health authorities.
Johnson said the high number of people who have received booster vaccines against Covid-19, which now numbers more than 33 million or about 58% of the population over the age of 12, meant there was no need for new rules before the New Year celebrations.
“Enjoy the New Year sensibly and cautiously, “he said.” We have cases certainly increasing, we have a lot of Omicron cases, but on the other hand we can see the data on the relative smoothness of Omicron. “
The data, which included five days of figures from Northern Ireland due to differences in reporting methods over the year-end holidays, showed that the number of cases had risen from Tuesday’s previous high of just under 130,000. , and also an increase of 41.4% in the last seven days.
Hospitalizations have also risen sharply and, according to official figures, on Wednesday there were 10,462 people hospitalized in England with Covid-19, which represents an increase of 916 compared to the previous day.
Of these, 771 needed to be on mechanical ventilation beds, a figure that has changed little during December.
Johnson said some doctors had told him that up to 90% of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care they had not received their booster doses.
There were also 57 deaths in the 28 days following a positive test for coronavirus, which is an increase compared to 6 pm on Tuesday, but which is well below the figures recorded at the beginning of this month.
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