LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Local, mayoral elections in England slated for May 7 will be postponed for one year due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, a government spokesperson announced Friday.
"We will bring forward legislation to postpone local, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections until May next year," said the spokesperson.
The postponement came after England polling watchdog recommended delaying the local elections to "mitigate" the impact of coronavirus.
The Electoral Commission said that there were "growing risks to the delivery of the polls" and that "significant numbers" of people may not be able to cast their ballots, with the number of COVID-19 infections rising, according to the English newspaper Daily Telegraph.
The London mayoral election will also be delayed for a year.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 798 Friday, an increase of 208 over 24 hours, according to the British Department of Health and Social Care.
It is by far the highest rise in cases of COVID-19 in a single day. It is also the first time the day-on-day increase has been higher than 200.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government confirmed the first death in Scotland of a COVID-19 patient, bringing the total death in Britain to 11.
"The patient, who was being treated by Lothian Health Board was an older person who had underlying health conditions. No further information will be available to protect patient confidentiality," said Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Catherine Calderwood in a statement.
Also on Friday, Queen Elizabeth II cancelled her scheduled visits to Cheshire and Camden in North London due to the coronavirus outbreak, said a Buckingham Palace statement.
