London, Nov 23 (IANS): UK has reported 18,662 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally to 1,512,045, according to official figures released.

The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 398 to 55,024, the data showed.

Also on Sunday, Ministers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have backed plans to allow different households to meet "for a small number of days" over Christmas, Xinhua reported.

According to the Cabinet Office, the ministers have endorsed a "shared objective of facilitating some limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days."

Meanwhile, the ministers also emphasized that the public should "remain cautious" and that "wherever possible people should avoid traveling and minimize social contact."

The Ministers' agreement came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reported to unveil his anti-coronavirus plan for winter on Monday, possibly with the details of coronavirus restrictions during the Christmas season.

The plan is expected to place more areas into the higher tiers. The strategy is to keep the virus under control to ensure further restrictions are not needed, Downing Street said.

England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until December 2, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.