London, (Asian independent) Another 18,262 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,929,835, according to official figures released on Saturday.
The country also reported another 828 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 112,092. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Clive Dix, chairman of Britain’s vaccines taskforce, said he is “very optimistic” that Britain can meet the target of vaccinating all over-50s by May.
Britain would be “ahead of the game” in terms of anticipating variants of coronavirus and was making “libraries of future vaccines”, he told the BBC.
Downing Street has confirmed that all British adults aged 50 and older are expected to be offered a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by early May.
More than 11 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that it is still too early to talk about ending coronavirus restrictions as the infection levels are still “very high”.
It was “still early days” and people should continue to stay at home and follow the lockdown rules, Johnson said in a video posted on Twitter on Friday night.
But the prime minister said he would announce a “road map” with a “steady program for beginning to unlock” on February 22.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that Britain remains “on track” to complete the vaccination of the top priority groups, which cover 15 million people, by mid-February. Britain aims to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.
On Friday, the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said Britain’s coronavirus reproduction number, known as the R number, has dropped slightly to between 0.7 and one.
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.
