Another 19,875 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,493,383, according to official figures released Saturday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 341 to 54,626, the data showed.
Earlier Saturday, the British government's former chief scientific adviser, Mark Walport, said that even though there was "something iconic in people's minds" about the festivities during the Christimas season, it "doesn't make sense to have big parties" amid the current coronavirus pandemic.
His warning came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly considering an easing of the COVID-19 rules over Christmas, where different families might be be allowed to meet.
Mark, who sits at the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said people should continue to follow the rules.
"It's absolutely clear that if you were to stop everything and take the brakes off completely, then infection would start growing again," he told Times Radio.
England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until Dec. 2, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.