LONDON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Britain reported a record high 189,846 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, up slightly from 189,213 the previous day. Friday"s data also showed 12,395 patients in hospital in England with COVID-19, up from 11,542 on Thursday. There were 203 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID test. This was not directly comparable with the 332 reported on Thursday, which included a backlog from the preceding days.