UK records another 20,634 coronavirus cases, 915 deaths

Another 20,634 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,892,459, according to official figures released Thursday.

Xinhua February 5, 2021

People queue for coronavirus tests at a temporary COVID-19 testing facility set up in Ealing, a district in western London, Britain, on Feb. 2, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

Another 20,634 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,892,459, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country also reported another 915 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 110,250. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

A seven-year-old with known underlying health conditions is among the latest reported deaths of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in England, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.

"While the risk from the virus to children is low, people with underlying conditions are known to be at higher risk of serious disease," according to the London-based newspaper.

Patients were aged between seven and 102 years old and all except 30 -- aged 40 to 99 -- had known underlying health conditions.

Earlier Thursday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Britain remained "on track" to complete the vaccination of the top priority groups, which cover 15 million people, by mid-February.

Meanwhile, one in five of all adults in Britain have already received a jab, according to Hancock.

"We are on track to deliver the commitment we have made of offering the jab to all of the top four priority groups by Feb. 15," Hancock told reporters.

"I'm just so proud of the team who are delivering this, it's going really, really well... Today we passed the threshold of one in five of the population who have been jabbed already."

Also on Thursday, British vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said Britain is "getting safer every day" as more people are given coronavirus vaccines, but the infection level is still "alarmingly high".

Nearly 10.5 million people in Britain have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to publish detailed plans for easing lockdown on Feb. 22 after the "milestone" of 10 million first-dose vaccinations was passed in the country.

However, there are 32,000 people in hospital with coronavirus and the level of infections is "alarmingly high", he said.

Zahawi said 39 new vaccination sites have opened this week as part of the British government's "ambitious plan" to roll out the vaccines. Britain aims to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

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