UK daily coronavirus cases surge to new record high

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - Britain reported 183,037 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, setting a new record for daily infections.

The new additions brought the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to over 12.5 million, while the death toll rose to 148,089 with 57 more deaths over the past day.

Earlier in the day, the UK Health Security Agency announced that over 90% of community cases of COVID-19 in England are now the omicron variant. It was previously announced that omicron accounted for over 80% of cases in Scotland.

Almost 90% of Brits aged 12 and over have received their first vaccine dose, 82.3% their second dose, and 57.5% their booster dose, according to the latest official data.

There were also widespread reports on Wednesday that PCR and later flow test kits had temporarily run out in parts of the country.