LONDON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Another 19,724 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 654,644, according to official figures released Wednesday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 137 to 43,155, the data showed.
The latest figures came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a new three-level COVID-19 alert system which took effect from Wednesday across England, with the level being decided according to local infection rates.
The alert system comprises three levels: "Medium", "High" and "Very High". The Liverpool City Region is placed in the "Very High" level which sees venues such as bars and pubs closed unless they can operate as restaurants, while people are also banned from socializing with other households.
Currently, most of England is placed in the first tier of the government's three-tier system, which means an alert level of "Medium".
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland is set to begin a four-week "circuit breaker" lockdown from Friday.
According to the government of Northern Ireland, among other restrictions, the hospitality sector in the region will be required to close apart from deliveries and takeaways for food, with the existing closing time of 11:00 p.m. BST (2200 GMT) remaining.
On Wednesday, Johnson told MPs at parliament that he rules out nothing in the fight against coronavirus, but that he wants to "avoid the misery of another national lockdown".
"I rule out nothing, of course, in combating the virus but we're going to do it with the local, regional approach that can drive down and will drive down the virus if it is properly implemented," he said.
A paper by two of the government's leading scientific advisers shows that a "short, sharp" two-week lockdown in later October during the school half term break could prevent more than 7,000 deaths, the Sky News reported.
To bring life back to normal, countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
