In 24 hours, Covid affected 162.5 thousand in the UK and 23.2 thousand in Portugal.

According to official data, a total of 162,572 new Covid-19 cases were registered daily in the UK this Saturday (January 1), up from a new record of 160,276 the previous day. There were 154 deaths in the UK in the 28 days after the positive test, up from 178 on Friday.

Portugal has recorded 23,290 new Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths in the last 24 hours. According to this Saturday’s epidemiological bulletin, hospital admissions plummeted.

UK data typically includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but this was not done this Saturday due to differences in the New Year’s weekend reporting schedule.

As the Ômicron variant spread rapidly, the daily number of confirmed infections across the UK reached record highs again in December. However, hospitalization and deaths were at a lower level than previous waves.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have adopted restrictions such as the closure of nightclubs, social exclusion rules in pubs and restrictions on the number of people they can meet.

But the UK, with more than 80% of the population, does not impose any restrictions. Health Secretary Sajid Javed said any new restrictions would be introduced only as a “complete last resort”.