Britain reported 34,377 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and a further 128 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, government figures showed, taking total deaths on this measure since the start of the pandemic to 160,507.
The number of cases over the past week was 24.6% lower than the week before, while the number of deaths over the past week was 22.5% lower, as the tide of cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant at the start of the year continues to ebb.