UK estimates COVID-19 infections falling, but warns cases still high The number of new COVID-19 infections in Britain is estimated to be shrinking by as much as 4% a day, the government said on Friday, a sharp reversal in the trajectory of the pandemic suggesting national lockdowns were beginning to take effect. Michael Holden, Alistair Smout U.S.

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of new COVID-19 infections in Britain is estimated to be shrinking by as much as 4% a day, the government said on Friday, a sharp reversal in the trajectory of the pandemic suggesting national lockdowns were beginning to take effect.

England and Scotland announced new restrictions on Jan. 4 to stem a surge in the disease fuelled by a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus, which has led to record numbers of daily deaths and infections this month.

The latest estimates from the health ministry suggest that the number of new infections was shrinking by between 1% and 4% a day. Last week, it was thought cases were growing by much as 5%, and the turnaround gave hope that the spread of the virus was being curbed, although the ministry urged caution.

The closely watched reproduction “R” number was estimated to be between 0.8 and 1, down from a range of 1.2 to 1.3 last week, meaning that on average, every 10 people infected will infect between eight and 10 other people.

But the Office for National Statistics estimated that the prevalence overall remained high, with about one in 55 people having the virus....

German virus death toll tops 50,000 even as infections sink

BERLIN (AP) — The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining.

The country’s disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that another 859 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642.

Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemic’s first phase and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.

But it has seen much higher levels of infections in the fall and winter. Hundreds of deaths, sometimes more than 1,000, have been reported daily in the country of 83 million people over recent weeks. Germany hit the 40,000 mark on Jan. 10.

ALSO SEE:      Other World Wide Developments

(Reuters) - China is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak since March, while in the United States, President Joe Biden moved swiftly to coordinate a federal effort to fight the pandemic. ...