MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) A further 770 positive tests for COVID-19 have been registered in the United Kingdom, taking the country's case total to 297,914, the Department of Health and Social Care announced on Friday, one day after public health officials designated two regions as "areas of intervention" amid a spike in new cases.
The latest increase to the case total is one above the 769 new positive tests registered by the department on Thursday.
The Department of Health and Social Care also announced that 123 people who had tested positive for the disease have died over the past 24 hours. The UK's death toll, which now stands at 45,677, is the world's third-highest.
Public Health England on Thursday announced that Blackburn and Darwen, as well as Luton, would both be named "areas of intervention," which will see the planned reopening of indoor fitness centers and other recreational facilities postponed.
The city of Leicester, along with Oadby and Wigston, were given this designation earlier due to a rise in new positive tests.
In the rest of England, indoor gyms, swimming pools, and sports facilities will be allowed to reopen from Saturday as the government continues to ease lockdown measures that were imposed in March.
