UK records another 2,144 coronavirus cases, 27 deaths

LONDON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Another 2,144 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,425,940, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The country also reported another 27 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,570. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 34.7 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

The data were revealed as the British government announced that laboratories to test current and new COVID-19 vaccines against variants of concern are to be built at Porton Down in Wiltshire, southwest England.

A total of 29.3 million pounds (about 40.7 million U.S. dollars) will be invested in building the "state-of-the-art" laboratories at Public Health England's new testing facilities at the British Ministry of Defence's complex, according to Sky News.

Scientists will be able to test 3,000 blood samples a week, more than four times the current number, so they can assess the vaccines' effectiveness against variants of concern, said the report.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.