UK reports 827 new Covid cases, count nears 3 lakhs

The United Kingdom registered 827 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which took the total tally of confirmed infections in the country over 294,000, as per the Department of Health and Social Care on Saturday.

"As of 9 am on July 18, 294,066 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK," the health department said in its latest COVID-19 update.

A total of 13,112,764 coronavirus tests have been made available in the UK since the start of the epidemic in the country.

On Tuesday, British media reported citing UK scientists that a new wave of COVID-19 expected this upcoming winter would be more serious than the first and could result in about 120,000 new fatal cases if the authorities fail to take urgent action to avoid the epidemic.

On June 15, the UK government made wearing face masks on public transport mandatory. Earlier this week, a Downing Street spokesman announced that face coverings would become mandatory in shops across England starting from July 24. (Sputnik/)

( With inputs from ANI )