COVID-19: UK reports 438 new coronavirus deaths - the highest daily total since February 2021
Today's figures are down from the 120,821 cases - but up from the 379 deaths - reported this time last week, on 11 January.
Tuesday 18 January 2022 19:47, UK
The UK has recorded 438 new coronavirus deaths - its highest daily total since 24 February last year.
Tuesday's figures, which are often higher due to a lag in reporting, saw a further 94,432 cases recorded in the UK.
On Monday, the UK reported 84,249 COVID cases and 85 deaths.
COVID news latest - live updates: Every coronavirus measure 'could be phased out from March'
Today's figures are down from the 120,821 cases - but up from the 379 deaths - reported this time last week, on 11 January.
In England, 16,218 people are being treated in hospital, with 614 in ventilation beds.
Meanwhile, 73,267 people have been given a third, or booster, dose of a coronavirus vaccine, taking the total to 63.6% of the population.
A further 26,502 people received their second dose, while 15,748 have been given the first jab, the latest figures show.
Why figures don't tell you the full story
Statistics don't always tell you the full story. At first reading today鈥檚 figure for daily deaths looks really high. A large part of that is down to reporting delays. The admin teams in hospitals have the weekend off, so Tuesday's data always includes a bit of a backlog. It鈥檚 been a feature of the pandemic.
But the underlying trend in deaths is still up. The current seven-day average is 272, up from just over 100 before Christmas. You鈥檇 expect that, to a degree, because hospitalisations have increased as Omicron has whipped through the UK.
Although most patients have been less sick than in previous COVID waves, there will still be some who sadly die. What isn't so clear is whether they are all dying because of COVID. Hospitals deal with lots of heart attacks, strokes, accidents and so on. If patients die within 28 days of testing positive for COVID then they are still included in the daily stats.
Normally they make up a relatively small proportion of the total. But infection rates in the community have been so high recently that the daily figures are likely to be less reliable. Over 4 million people had COVID in the first week of the year 鈥� many times more than the peak of last January.
And that increases the chance of people being included in the daily COVID numbers when they have died of unrelated reasons. Death certificates include the doctor鈥檚 assessment of cause, so they can be more accurate.
But it takes several weeks for death registrations to filter through to the Office for National Statistics. So for now we are left with the faster but perhaps less reliable daily data.
It comes as Scotland will remove all its Omicron coronavirus restrictions from next Monday, with the first minister confirming the country is on a "downward slope" of infections.
The changes will see nightclubs reopen, the requirement for table service in hospitality come to an end and attendance limits on indoor events lifted.
The prime minister is, according to The Guardian, drawing up plans that could see all COVID-19 rules phased out in England as early as March.
The paper reports his intention would be to let the country live with the virus.
Plan B restrictions, which are currently in place, are due to be reviewed next week, on 26 January. Working from home guidance, and COVID passports - both introduced when the new variant began circulating widely - are set to be scrapped, but face mask rules could remain in the short term.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs: "I have always said that these restrictions should not stay in place a day longer than they are absolutely necessary.
"Due to these pharmaceutical defences and the likelihood that we have already reached the peak of the case numbers and hospitalisations, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to substantially reduce measures next week."
With the government continuing to encourage booster jabs, a new survey has found two-thirds of adults feel the UK should share more vaccine doses with the world.
The survey, for the ONE Campaign, found British adults feel the disparity in vaccination levels between rich and poor countries is both "unwise and unfair".
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Of the 2,186 adults surveyed, around 63% said new variants were likely in countries with poor vaccine access so the UK should prioritise ensuring the vaccine is available worldwide, instead of giving any further booster jabs.
More than half of people said they would be willing to forgo a fourth dose so a vulnerable person or frontline worker in another country could receive their first.