T
he UK has recorded 15,871 new coronavirus cases and a further 479 deaths overnight.
Today’s rise in infections follows a steady decrease in case rates across the country.
The total number of infections recorded over the past week is 35,955 fewer than over the previous seven days – a fall of 24.1 per cent.
It takes Britain’s total Covid-19 infection count since the start of the pandemic to 1,605,172.
However, the positive trend in cases comes amid an ongoing rise in weekly deaths.
A total of 3,406 virus fatalities were recorded over the past seven days, a rise of 19 per cent on the previous week.
This takes the country’s official Covid death toll to 58,030. But separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agency show that Britain has now recorded more than 73,000 fatalities involving the disease.
Officers arrested dozens of people on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of demonstrators, including a man dressed as Santa Claus marched through Westminster.
The Metropolitan Police said officers had made more than 60 arrests by 3pm, as the crowds chanted “shame on you” and “freedom”, causing traffic disruption across the capital.
