UK logs over 200K daily Covid cases for first time since start of pandemic

The United Kingdom has reported 218,724 COVID-19 cases in the latest 24-hour period, exceeding 200,000 daily cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Xinhua News Agency reported citing official figures on Tuesday.

According to the news agency, this brought the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 13,641,520.

The country also reported a further 48 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 148,941, with 14,126 COVID-19 patients still in hospital, as per the official release cited by Xinhua News Agency.

Earlier on Tuesday, British Health Secretary told Sky News that there's nothing in data at this point that suggests that Britain needs to move away from Plan B, which includes guidance to work from home and mandatory face masks in most public indoor venues.

The British government is not planning to cut the isolation period from seven days to five days, as the United States has done, he said.

More than 90 per cent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and around 82 per cent have received both doses, according to the latest figures cited by Xinhua News Agency.