London, Feb 12 Another 13,494 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,998,655, according to official figures released on Thursday.
The country also reported another 678 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 115,529. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The latest figures were revealed as coronavirus case rates are continuing to fall in all regions of England, according to the latest weekly report from Public Health England (PHE).
In the West Midlands, which has the highest rate of any region, the rate of new cases stood at 237.6 per 100,000 people in the seven days to February 7, down from 326.8 in the previous week.
Case rates are also continuing to fall among all age groups, according to PHE.
The highest rate is among 30 to 39-year-olds, which stood at 265.3 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to February 7, down from 367.2 in the previous week.
Meanwhile, Britain is stepping up efforts to speed up vaccine roll-out to bring the pandemic under control.
More than 13.5 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Britain aims to complete the vaccination of the top priority groups, which cover 15 million people, by mid-February.
Downing Street has confirmed that all British adults aged 50 and older are expected to be offered a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by early May. Britain aims to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.
England is currently under the third national lockdown since outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the US have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
( With inputs from IANS )
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