United Kingdom reports over 4,000 COVID cases for 1st time since April

At least 4,182 people in the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, the highest single-day sike since April 1, according to official figures.

It's also the third day running that the number has been above 3,000, reports Xinhua news agency.

The new cases have increased the country's overall infection tally to 4,477,705, reports Xinhua news agency

The country also reported another 10 coronavirus-related fatalities, taking the total death toll to 127,768.

Meanwhile, coronavirus infections in England are growing by up to 3 per cent a day as the virus reproduction number, known as the R number, increased slightly from 0.9-1.1 to 1.0-1.1, the latest figures showed.

It means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 10 and 11 other people.

The nationwide Covid growth rate, which estimates how quickly the number of cases is changing day-by-day, is estimated to be between 0 per cent and 3 per cent, up on last week's minus 2 per cent to 1 per cent.

Earlier Friday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said that it is currently "impossible to know" if England will be able to remove all coronavirus restrictions as planned on June 21 due to variant concerns.

A final decision on the planed easing of lockdown will not be made until June 14, Kwarteng told Sky News.

His remarks came after the cases of the B.1.617 variant doubled in a week in England to almost 7,000, prompting concerns the government's lockdown roadmap will be derailed.

The government's roadmap is expected to see all legal limits on social contact to be removed on June 21.

Meanwhile, more than 38.8 million people, or more than 70 per cent of adults in Britain, have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.