People walk past the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, on Jan. 1, 2021. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

Another 54,990 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,654,779, according to official figures released Sunday.

It was the sixth day in a row that daily new cases have topped 50,000 in Britain.

Another 454 have died within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 75,024, the data showed.

Earlier Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said regional restrictions in England are "probably about to get tougher" in the coming weeks to curb rising coronavirus infections.

British medical experts have warned that tougher days are still ahead due to the spread of the new virus strain, which is said to be 70 percent more transmissible.

"This new variant is definitely more infectious and is spreading across the whole of the country. It seems very likely that we are going to see more and more cases, wherever people work in the UK, and we need to be prepared for that," Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, told the BBC on Saturday.

London and many other parts of England have already been under the highest Tier Four restrictions, which require residents in the areas to stay at home, with limited exemptions.

In the Tier Four areas, people are also urged to work from home when they can, and should not enter or leave those areas. People should also not mix with anyone outside their own household, apart from support bubbles.

The British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has urged all regions of England to be placed in Tier Four restrictions.