UK records another 35,623 coronavirus cases

London [US], September 25 (ANI/Xinhua): Another 35,623 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 7,601,487, according to official figures released Friday.

The country also recorded another 180 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 135,983. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

The latest data came as the country's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, has fallen slightly to between 0.8 and one, the latest government figures show.

Last week, the R value was between 0.9 and 1.1. The growth rate in England is now between minus 3 percent and minus 1 percent a day, meaning that the number of new infections is shrinking by between 1 percent and 3 percent each day.

Earlier this month, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced major relaxing of travel rules for people coming in and out of England.

Under the government's plans for overhauling international travel, from the end of October, fully vaccinated passengers from non-red list countries will be able to replace day-two PCR tests with cheaper lateral flow tests.
The Scottish government has confirmed that fully vaccinated people arriving in Scotland from non-red list countries will no longer have to take pre-departure COVID tests from Oct. 4. Northern Ireland has followed suit with this decision.
More than 89 percent of people aged 16 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 82 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed.
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. (ANI/Xinhua)