VIRAL WAVE
Drop in daily UK Covid cases stalls as 142,224 new infections reported but deaths fall
A FURTHER 142,224 cases of coronavirus infections have been recorded today, the first increase in days.
Yesterday 141,472 cases were reported and on Saturday 146,390 people also tested positive.
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Sadly, a further 77 people have lost their lives, 28 days after testing positive, bringing the total death rate in the UK to 150,230.
But this is a drop from yesterday's total of 97 fatalities and the 313 deaths that were reported on Saturday, and 229 deaths reported on Friday.
Today's update in infections brings the total case rate in the UK to 14,617,314.
On Friday 178,250 Brits tested positive, Thursday 179,756 and 194,747 on Wednesday.
Cases reached a record high on Tuesday when 218,724 cases were reported, but since then they have gradually been falling.
Experts have said that Omicron infections are milder and many are now saying that we need to 'learn to live' with the virus.
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A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
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The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
Medics have urged people to continue to come forward for their vaccines and it was told revealed that pregnant women risk premature birth if they don't have their jabs.
The latest data has shown Covid vaccines are safe for mums-to-be and their babies.
But JCVI’s Professor Jeremy Brown said this morning: "If you catch Covid and you're unvaccinated and pregnant, especially in the last trimester, there's a 20 per cent risk of a premature birth."
Data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System shows 96.3 per cent of pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 symptoms between May and October 2021 were unvaccinated.
A third of which (33 per cent) needed help breathing, and around 1 in 5 women hospitalised with the virus saw their babies delivered preterm and rushed to the neonatal unit.
Sun columnist Dr Zoe Williams today also said that getting your jab is the best thing you can do for your health this winter.
While jabs help protect us from severe outcomes related to Covid-19, restrictions in place such as mask wearing and working from home also help stop the spread of the virus in the community.
Today one minister said that Plan B restrictions such as those highlighted above, could be lifted in weeks if the NHS copes with the ongoing winter pressures.
Hospitals appear to be coping better with Omicron patients than first feared amid evidence the variant is much milder.
The encouraging data has triggered demands for Boris Johnson to throw off remaining Covid curbs like mandatory masks and working from home.
Levelling Up Secretary Mr Gove this morning admitted the country should start learning to live with the virus once the NHS is in the clear.
He told the BBC: "Our first responsibility at the moment must be to support the NHS.
"But... if we get through - and at the moment, I hope and pray that we will get through this difficult period - then there will be better times ahead.
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"And I think one of the things that we need to do is how we live with this particular type of coronavirus.
"So guided by the science, we can look to the progressive lifting of restrictions. But I think for all of us, the sooner the better."
Isolation SHOULD be cut to 5 days, Education Secretary says as experts admit gloomy Omicron death predictions were wrong
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