LONDON, Nov 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Another 18,662 people in Britain tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,512,045, according to official figures released yesterday.
COVID-19 deaths rose by 398 to 55,024, the data said.
Also yesterday, ministers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, backed plans to allow different households to meet “for a small number of days” over Christmas.
The ministers also emphasised that the public should “remain cautious,” and that “wherever possible, people should avoid travelling and minimise social contact.”
The ministers’ agreement came, as British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is reported to unveil his anti-COVID-19 plan for winter, today, possibly with details of restrictions during the Christmas season.
The “COVID winter plan” is expected to place more areas into the higher tiers. The strategy is to keep the virus under control to ensure further restrictions are not needed, Downing Street said.
Meanwhile, a leading British statistician warned, “there will be a price to pay for relaxing rules at Christmas.”
If restrictions are changed to allow greater mixing at Christmas, then infections will inevitably go up, David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, said.
England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until Dec 2, the second of its kind, since the outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell resurgence.– NNN-AGENCIES
