LONDON, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- British Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Monday urged Britons to "remain vigilant" despite looming vaccine hopes and keep abiding by the restriction rules to curb the resurgence of coronavirus.

"Until the science can make us safe, we must remain vigilant and keep following the rules that we know can keep this virus under control," Hancock said during a virtual press briefing at the Downing Street.

"While there is much uncertainty, we can see the candle of hope and we must do all that we can to nurture its flame... But we're not there yet," he said.

Meanwhile, the health secretary also stressed the importance of mass testing in tackling the pandemic.

Two new testing "mega labs" will open in early 2021, which will add 600,000 to Britain's daily testing capacity and offer a "massive diagnostic capacity" that should last well into the future, said Hancock.

Hancock noted that the National Health Service (NHS) will launch a network of more than 40 specialist clinics within weeks to help people coping with the so-called "long COVID", which refers to enduring coroanvirus symptoms like continuing fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness and pain.

The condition is thought to affect more than 60,000 people in Britain, according the NHS.

England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until Dec. 2, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.

Britain is the first European nation to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths. It is the fifth country in the world to hit the tragic milestone, following the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.