UK records 53,135 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

UK’s government has reported 53,135 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest number since mass testing started in mid-2020 and up sharply from the previous record of 41,385 set on Monday.

The number of new deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test also rose to 414 from Monday’s 357, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 71,567.

On Tuesday, the European Union said it would buy an extra 100 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

“We decided to take an additional 100 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which is already being used to vaccinate people across the EU,” European Commission President Ursula said on Twitter.

The plan comes after some of the vaccine candidates ordered by the EU faced unexpected delays in clinical trials, forcing the bloc and other wealthy nations to rely on shots from fewer manufacturers than initially planned.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and India became the latest countries to report first cases of the new, highly contagious coronavirus variant detected in the UK.

At least three cases were detected in travellers from the UK who arrived in Pakistan. India reported six people who travelled from the UK to be carrying the variant.

South Korea reported 40 new COVID deaths, a record daily toll, bringing the death tally to 859 as the country grapples with a third wave of infection centred around nursing homes and a prison in Seoul.

Globally, more than 81.5 million people reported to be infected by the virus and 1,779,189 have died so far.

News Agencies