UK records highest COVID-19 death toll since May

The UK has recorded its highest number of COVID-19 deaths since May.

The Department of Health has announced a further 367 coronavirus-related deaths - the highest figure since May 27, when there were 422 fatalities, reports the Telegraph.

Deaths recorded by officials on Tuesdays tend to take into account a reporting lag from the previous weekend.

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Meanwhile, 22,885 people tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, taking the country's total to more than 900,000, while 1142 patients were admitted to hospital.

The figures come as British researchers have discovered that immunity against COVID-19 does decline over time.

Researchers who sent out home finger-prick tests to more than 365,000 randomly selected people in England found a more than 26 per cent decline in coronavirus antibodies over just three months.

"We observe a significant decline in the proportion of the population with detectable antibodies over three rounds of national surveillance, using a self-administered lateral flow test, 12, 18 and 24 weeks after the first peak of infections in England," the research team wrote.

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Antibodies are the proteins your body naturally generates to fight infection. IgG are one type - the tests were not designed to detect other types of antibodies.

The study was published Monday by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI, a market research company.

- With CNN

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