Another 2,027 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,448,851, according to official figures released Saturday.
The country also reported another seven coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,675. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
The latest figures were revealed as British experts warned that the next stage of lockdown easing in England slated for Monday should be approached “with utmost caution”.
Dr Richard Jarvis, co-chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) public health medicine committee, said “key segments of the population” were still not vaccinated.
“It is a real worry that when further measures lift on May 17, the majority of younger people, who are often highly socially mobile and could therefore be most at risk of a more infectious strain, are not yet vaccinated,” he told the BBC.
From Monday, pubs, bars and restaurants in England will be permitted to open indoors, while indoor entertainment will also resume, including cinemas, museums and children’s play areas.
People in England will be allowed to meet outdoors in groups of up to 30 people, and meet indoors in groups of up to six or as two households.
Meanwhile, all remaining accommodation including hotels, hostels and B&Bs can reopen from next Monday, according to Johnson.
The British government’s roadmap is expected to see all legal limits on social contact to be removed on June 21.
According to the latest official figures, more than 36.3 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine.
Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
