UK records another 38,351 new coronavirus cases

London (UK), November 14: Britain on Saturday registered 38,351 new COVID-19 infections and 157 coronavirus related deaths, bringing the total loss of lives to 142,835, according to the latest official figures.
The death toll only includes people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
The infections have raised by 0.4 percent over the last seven days, and the number of deaths has decreased by 7.9 percent.
There are currently 8,652 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
The latest data came as a British expert said the country was unlikely to get a "catastrophic winter wave" this Christmas.
Neil Ferguson, a British leading epidemiologist, told the BBC that "we are in a very different place from last year" and "the vaccination is having a huge effect" on the population's immunity levels.
Ferguson said the high number of cases during the past four months in Britain "has obviously had a downside". But, "paradoxically it had an upside of boosting the immunity of the population" compared to other European countries.
Ferguson said data suggests a third jab gives significant protection, even against mild illness.
More than 87 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 percent have received both doses, the latest figures indicate. More than 21 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
Source: Xinhua