UK Covid deaths down a third in a week as 149 more people die but cases rise by 14% as another 43,676 test positive

COVID deaths are down a third in just a week, with today’s figures revealing 149 more people have died from the virus.

But it marks only a small victory as the number of positive infections rose by 14 per cent, with another 43,676 cases recorded.

AFPThe number of Covid deaths in the UK have decreased by a third in just a week[/caption]

It comes amid fears schools may have to impose their own “circuit breakers” in a bid to battle rising case numbers.

According to government figures published last Wednesday, 38,263 Brits tested positive for Covid.

But there were 201 deaths reported, meaning less people are succumbing to the disease.

A whopping 144,286 people have now passed away within 28 days of a positive test result.

However, hope has come after a new study revealed the Covid booster jab gives five times more protection than the second dose.

Experts also think the booster shot lasts longer than the original two-dose regimen.

t comes after researchers looked at vaccine responses before and after the boosters in 33 healthy middle-aged adults.

They had all got their second jabs on average around nine months previously.

Before getting the booster shots their antibody levels had plummeted almost ten-fold.

By six to ten days after getting the top up, the antibody levels were up 25-fold, and five times higher than after two doses.

Yet the vaccine’s success has been tainted by concerns a new Covid variant with dozens of mutations that could escape vaccines could cripple the UK.

The strain – which virologists say has 32 mutations – has been identified in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong.

Experts say it appears to be an offshoot of an older variant called B.1.1.