On Saturday, the United Kingdom became the first country in Western Europe to register over 3 million Covid-19 cases, according to data published by British government on Saturday.
The UK recorded 59,937 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, making the total number of cases since the pandemic started to 3,017,409, CNN reported.
The country has crossed 80,000 coronavirus-related deaths, with 1,035 deaths summed in the past 24 hours. The total number of deaths due to Covid19 is 80,868.
It is reported that mortality rate has risen by 51.3 per cent from the last week, while the number of people testing positive is up 22.1 per cent, shows a seven-day average published on Saturday.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a 'major incident' on Friday because of an 'out of control' surge of Covid-19 cases in hospitals and said that it has left the National Health Service (NHS) on the brink of being overwhelmed.
"We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die. Londoners continue to make huge sacrifices and I am today imploring them to please stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for you to leave. Stay at home to protect yourself, your family, friends and other Londoners and to protect our NHS," said the Mayor.
Meanwhile, Chair of London Councils, Georgia Gould informed that 1 in 30 Londoners are infected with the virus.
"Cases are rising at a dangerous rate in London, putting extreme pressure on the NHS. One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. This is why public services across London are urging all Londoners to please stay at home except for absolutely essential shopping and exercise," she said.
The UK is currently under nationwide lockdown, which came into effect on January 6 after a mutated variant of Covid-19 stoked up a surge in infections throughout the country.
