UK records another 20,634 Covid cases, 915 deaths

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People wearing face masks walk past ambulances at The Royal London Hospital in London, Britain.

London, (Asian independent) 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 on 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, Xinhua reported.

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 on 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.