UK reports 1,290 new deaths from COVID-19

LONDON

A further 1,290 people across the UK have died from the novel coronavirus, according to government data released on Thursday.

Some 37,892 more COVID-19 cases were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to more than 3.54 million, including 94,580 deaths.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told parliament today that almost two-thirds of care home residents have been given a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

“I'm delighted to say 63% of residents in elderly care homes have now received a vaccination, that is a really significant increase over the last week,” he said.

“And we're on track to deliver on our goal of vaccinating elderly care home residents by the end of this month, and I hope sooner than that.”

Vaccinations among all groups were taking place at a rate of 200 jabs per minute, he added.

Over 5M doses administered

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that over 5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the UK as of Thursday.

“Thank you to everyone contributing to this tremendous national effort. Jab by jab we are protecting the vulnerable and getting closer to defeating the virus,” he said on Twitter.

The Glastonbury music festival – the largest live music event in Europe – has been cancelled for the second year in a row, according to its organizers.