UK records another 2,412 coronavirus cases

London [UK], May 18 (ANI/Xinhua): Another 2,412 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,450,392, according to official figures released Tuesday.
The country also reported another seven coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,691. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
More than 36.8 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier Tuesday that there is "nothing conclusive to say we need to deviate" from plans to end coronavirus restrictions next month.
"We are looking very carefully at the data...what's happening...the epidemiology...the extent to which the new variant may be more transmissible," he said.
Speaking at a vaccination centre at north London, Johnson stressed it underlined the need for people to get vaccinated, if they are eligible.
A total of 2,323 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India have been recorded in Britain, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday.
According to Hancock, the variant is now the dominant strain of the virus in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, both in northwest England, with 483 confirmed cases.
From Monday, pubs, bars and restaurants in England were permitted to open indoors, while indoor entertainment resumed, including cinemas, museums and children's play areas.
Millions in England were allowed to meet outdoors in groups of up to 30 people, and meet indoors in groups of up to six or as two households.
Meanwhile, all remaining accommodation including hotels, hostels and B&Bs can reopen from Monday.
People were also allowed to travel abroad to a number of green-list countries without having to quarantine upon return as the ban on foreign travel has also been lifted.
The British government's roadmap is expected to see all legal limits on social contact to be removed on June 21.
Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of the pandemic on the European continent.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. (ANI/Xinhua)