THE UK’s Covid death toll has dropped again as 167 more people die – but cases remain high.
While today’s death toll is four times higher than the 40 fatalities recorded yesterday, it marks an 17.7 per cent week-on-week drop on last Tuesday.
Monday’s figures can be lower due to reporting delays over the weekend.
A further 34,526 people have tested positive for Covid, an increase of 9.4 per cent on the 31,564 seen last Tuesday.
It comes as official figures show three times as many unvaccinated people are catching Covid as those who have been double-jabbed.
Someone who had their second Pfizer dose in May is 66 per cent less likely than an unprotected person to test positive.
For AstraZeneca the risk is 54 per cent lower and for Moderna it is 76 per cent. The figures, which are based on random swab tests, are the first of their kind from the Office for National Statistics.
Experts say they offer proof that jabs are cutting transmission — with cases also halved after a single dose.
The ONS also reported that infections were 55 per cent lower for people who had already had Covid.
However, they were 59 per cent higher in people who do not wear masks.
The ONS report was based on tests sent to 167,288 people between August 29 and September 11.
Prof Kevin McConway, Open University statistics expert, said: “The headline findings are that vaccinated people were less likely to test positive.
“Younger people, people who never wore face coverings indoors, and people who had more social contacts were all more likely to test positive.”
