Britain on Sunday said that coronavirus cases had risen by a one day record of 35,928 to push its tally past the one million and 40,000 mark, blaming the rapid spread on a new variant of the virus linked to key mutations.
Britain’s death toll from the outbreak has now hit 67,401 after 326 new virus-induced fatalities were recorded over the last day, health ministry data showed, despite the start of an inoculation campaign using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The government has said that the new strain, believed to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the initial one, was behind the sharp rise in new cases, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock describing the current situation as “out of control.”
London and Southeast England would be under rigid coronavirus restrictions for the foreseeable future, Hancock said, adding that the government has now backtracked on plans to loosen some curbs in time for Christmas. The tough measures, which allow about a third of England’s population out of their homes for only essential reasons, are likely to remain intact for quite some time, he added.
Source-KUNA