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LONDON, May 25-- Another 121 COVID-19 patients had died in Britain as of Sunday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 36,914, the Department of Health and Social Care said Monday. The figures included deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community. As of Monday morning, 261,184 people had tested positive in Britain, an daily increase of 1,625, according to the department. At Monday's press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the government intends to allow outdoor markets as well as car showrooms to reopen from June 1, subject to all premises being made COVID-19 secure. The government plans to allow all other non-essential retailers to reopen from June 15, according to Johnson. But he also said that this move will be "contingent upon" progress in the fight against COVID-19. "The food retail sector has already responded fantastically well, enabling supermarkets to be kept open in a safe way -- and we will learn lessons from that experience as we allow other retail to open," said Johnson. Also on Monday, Johnson's most senior adviser Dominic Cummings defended his actions during his first public appearance since a major row erupted over reports that he "broke" Britain's COVID-19 lockdown rules. During an earlier press conference in the rose garden of Downing Street, Cummings told reporters that he had behaved "reasonably." | 
