“As of 9am 23 June, there have been 8,309,929 tests, with 237,142 tests on 22 June. 306,210 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 22 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 42,927 have sadly died,” the Department tweeted.

On the other hand, in his speech delivered in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that pubs, restaurants and hairdressers can reopen if they are COVID-19 Secure from 4 July in England.

“Thanks to our progress, we can now go further and safely ease the lockdown in England. At every stage, caution will remain our watchword, and each step will be conditional and reversible. Given the significant fall in the prevalence of the virus, we can change the two-meter social distancing rule, from 4th July,” Johnson said.

“Where it is possible to keep 2 meters apart people should. But where it is not, we will advise people to keep a social distance of ‘one meter plus,” Johnson added. (ILKHA)