Boris Johnson cancels India visit amid COVID-19 situation in UK

London : UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his visit to India as Chief Guest on Republic Day amid serious concerns over rise in coronavirus cases in the country.

"The prime minister spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned," a spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

Recently, a new strain of coronavirus was spotted in the United Kingdom. The number of new COVID-19 cases has shown a sharp rise in the nation.

Meanwhile, UK has registered more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the seventh consecutive day. 58,784 cases were registered on Monday, highest till date.

Some 2,713,563 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK.

Government figures also show there have been 407 more deaths in the past 24 hours.

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