Darkest day as the UK death toll rises to 2,352
A SURGE in coronavirus deaths brought the UK toll to 2,352 yesterday – the first daily rise of more than 500.
It marked the bleakest day since the outbreak.
The latest victims included the youngest Briton killed, a 13-yearold boy with no health issues.
The teenager, who died on Monday, is believed to be Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab.
New deaths reported were up almost 50 per cent on the previous day, from 381 to 563.
But the true total will be higher as the figures cover only people tested positive for the virus who died in hospital.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said yesterday: “All our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.
“This is more tragic evidence that this virus does not discriminate. The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest threat our country has faced in decades.”
Spread
The number of confirmed UK cases rose by more than 4,000 for the first time yesterday, bringing the total who tested positive to almost 30,000.
Mr Sharma said 10,767 had been admitted to hospital with coronavirus, including 3,915 in London and 1,918 in the Midlands.
Despite early signs Britain’s lockdown appeared to be slowing the spread of Covid-19, the number of deaths are likely to rise for some days.
Meanwhile, Public Health England medical director Professor Yvonne Doyle warned of an “uptick” in motor vehicle traffic, saying: “The message here is people do need to stay at home.”
Prof Doyle said the record number of new cases was “slightly concerning” and it was too early to say whether the plateau of hospital admissions had ended. London was bearing the brunt but rising UK hospital admissions showed “the threat is everywhere”, Prof Doyle said.
Figures show 1.7 million NHS 111 assessments over the last 15 days have resulted in people told they may have the virus. Assessments include 1.5 million symptom checks completed online and 243,500 over the phone.
They do not necessarily relate to individuals – some users may have sought help more than once.
The data, published by NHS Digital, comes after GP practices in England were told to open over Easter to help the NHS cope.
The British Medical Association said emergency changes to contract regulations were likely to mean practices having to open on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
New guidelines could also mean delays to bone marrow transplants and radiotherapy treatments.
Most non-urgent cases of allogeneic transplants, which use stem cells from a donor, should be deferred until the risks associated with the outbreak have passed, the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said.
New radiotherapy guidelines advise doctors to weigh the risk of “cancer not being treated optimally” with the risk of patients become ill with Covid-19.
Cancer charities hope some treatments could be made differently and at alternative locations.
Martin Ledwick of Cancer Research UK said: “Some trusts
563 the total number of UK deaths from coronavirus yesterday
are looking at delivering chemotherapy services on other sites and other innovative ways of trying to keep people as safe as possible.”
More than a quarter of calls to Macmillan Cancer Support’s helpline in the last week were from patients worried about Covid-19.
Meanwhile, a study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) added to evidence that Britain’s lockdown measures are working.
Before the curbs, each sufferer was thought to infect around 2.6 others, but estimates now suggest this has dropped to 0.62.
Decline
When this figure, known as the reproduction number, is below one, the spread of an epidemic can be brought under control.
Professor John Edmunds, of LSHTM, said: “If we see similar changes across the UK population, we would expect to see the epidemic start to decline. However, our estimates are not to be read as ‘job done’.
“We must continue to stop transmission of the virus to reduce the burden on the NHS now and over the coming months.”