London, Jun 17 (IANS): Britain has reported another 9,055 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, the highest daily increase since February, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 4,589,814, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The country also recorded another nine coronavirus-related death. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,926. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 42 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine while more than 30.4 million people have been fully vaccinated with a second dose, according to the latest official figures.

The latest data came as Susan Hopkins, Public Health England's strategic Covid-19 response director, revealed that there are 25 coronavirus variants "under monitoring".

"We're living in a world of variants now, so everything we see is a variation of the original," she told the parliamentary science and technology committee.

She said eight variants are "under investigation", along with the 25 others that are being monitored.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday a four-week delay to the final step of England's roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions until July 19, amid a surge in cases of the Delta variant first identified in India.

Public Health England (PHE) has said that the Delta variant is now the "dominant" strain in Britain.

Experts have warned that coronavirus may continue to evolve for years to come, and eventually it is likely current vaccines will fail to protect against transmission, infection, or even against disease caused by newer variants.

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