London (TIP): Another 23,287 people in the UK have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which increased the country’s overall infection tally to 1,146,484, according to official figures.

Also on Friday, coronavirus deaths rose by 355 to 48,475, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) announced that the UK’s coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, remained between 1.1 and 1.3, the same as last week’s figure.

The R number is one of many indicators scientists use to determine how fast the virus is spreading in the country. If the R number is above one, it means the number of cases will increase exponentially. Also on Friday, queues were seen outside new test centers in Liverpool which were opened at midday as part of the country’s first mass coronavirus testing program.