UK coronavirus-related deaths top 100,000

LONDON - The number of people who died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in Britain has surpassed 100,000 after another 1,631 have been confirmed, according to official figures released Tuesday.

The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 100,162, the data showed.

Britain is the first European nation and the fifth country in the world to pass the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths, following the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

Another 20,089 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,689,746, according to official figures.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to lead a Downing Street press conference later Tuesday.

Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, described it as a "sobering moment in the pandemic".

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.