The COVID-19 pandemic is getting more concerning in the United Kingdom as coronavirus cases soar in some parts of the island. According to official data, 2,654,779 coronavirus cases have been reported in the UK so far, as well as a death toll of 75,024, making it one of the most affected countries in the world and the second most affected in Europe.
On Sunday, 54,990 new coronavirus cases were reported in the United Kingdom, the highest figure ever reported since the beginning of the pandemic. Many attribute this rise to the spread of the new strain of the virus, which is believed to be more contagious.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a news outlet that, given the current situation, the government is not ruling out further measures that could help contain the advance of the virus. He also announced recently that more than one million people in the United Kingdom have already been vaccinated.
The prime minister concurred, saying that the government may need to take tougher action in many parts of the country over the next few weeks.
"It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country, I'm fully reconciled with that," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "I bet the people of this country are reconciled to that.”
The UK bolstered its vaccination campaign a week ago after becoming the first country to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with over 500,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca doses to be available today. The government plans to deliver around 200,000 doses a week, though it has not reported how that will be achieved.
By 8:29 GMT, the pound sterling gained 0.10 percent against the greenback, hitting the 1.3685 level.