UK reports 254 more COVID deaths, 84053 cases

Britain reported 84,053 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and a further 254 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, as numbers drifted lower following a wave of Omicron cases at the turn of the year. The number of new cases in the past seven days was down 2.4% on a week before at 614,720, while the number of deaths was 3.4% down on the previous week at 1,766.