By Muhammad Mussa
LONDON (AA) – The UK on Friday reported 29,079 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to over 3.74 million with the death toll reaching 103,126.
Between Jan. 23-29, as many as 188,907 people tested positive for the virus, said the government’s official COVID-19 website. This represents a 29.5% decrease in the number of cases compared to the previous week.
The number of the first vaccine doses administered to people has exponentially increased since its rollout last month. As of Thursday, more than 7.89 million people had been administered a first dose, with 478,254 people receiving the second dose.
Between Jan. 19-25, at least 2,903 people were admitted to hospital after contracting the virus, a 14.3% decrease compared to the previous seven-day figure. As of Jan. 27, there are currently 35,375 coronavirus patients admitted in UK hospitals.
The latest R range for the UK is 0.7 to 1.1 with the current growth rate being -5% to 0% per day. The R number is a mechanism used to rate the virus’s ability to spread, with R being the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to.
The new statistics represent a slackening in the pace of the spread of COVID-19 in the UK, as well as across the world.
The government has introduced new travel restrictions for those arrivals returning from 30 countries in the so-called red list. Travelers entering the UK from these countries will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine for 10 days in a government-provided accommodation.
UK nationals and residents looking to travel abroad must provide a written declaration as to why they want to travel abroad for a reason other than a holiday.