Britain’s death count surges above China

THE killer coronavirus has now claimed more lives in Britain than in China, where the outbreak began, latest figures suggest.

The UK death toll rocketed to 3,605 yesterday after a further 684 patients died in hospital.

Meanwhile China has suffered 3,326 deaths, according to the country’s official count.

In England, London remained the hotspot for the virus with 161 deaths but was closely followed by the Midlands, where hospital admissions have also been climbing, with 150.

More than 38,000 people have now tested positive for the virus, said the Department of Health.

Experts said it was sadly not surprising that deaths were still rising, as people dying now were likely infected before social distancing measures were introduced.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, confirmed: “As we have always said, we do not expect these changes to turn the curve on this awful disease immediately – it will take time.”

He warned: “This remains a dangerous time.

“It remains vitally important that people continue to stay at home and practise the social distancing that we’ve asked of them,

even this weekend as the weather turns warmer.”

Asked whether he could still see “green shoots” of hope in the data, Prof Van-Tam added: “I absolutely see green shoots, I really do, in terms of the massive change in public behaviour that’s already taken place.

“However, if you’re asking me about the healthcare hospital admission data, then I think it is

too early to make any kind of interpretation such as that.

“There will be day-to-day variations in the number of hospital admissions that occur as a feature of near random chance.

“One needs to be patient and look for a long-term trend.”

The number of confirmed cases around the globe has now passed one million, according to Johns Hopkins University in the United

States, which is tracking the worldwide picture.

Prof Van-Tam said the UK finds itself in the same situation as many other countries, adding: “This is a serious battle, we need to keep fighting it.”

Just over half of deaths recorded so far were among people aged 80 and over, according to provisional data from NHS England.

As of 5pm on Thursday, 1,749

victims in England were aged 80 or above, while 1,291 (39 per cent) were aged 60 to 79.

A further 233 were aged 40-59, with 26 aged 20-39 and three aged 0-19.

Professor James Naismith, of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and Oxford University, said: “The rise in deaths reported today, will have brought heartbreak across the country.The awful reality is that we are going to continue to see very large numbers of deaths for some time ahead.

“What we will see first, as social distancing measures work, is a slowdown in the increase in these daily numbers.”

Prof Naismith said that although the latest daily figure was higher than Thursday’s toll of 569 deaths,

the acceleration was not at steep as it might have been.

“I stress that the progress of our efforts to curb the virus must not be judged by day-to-day numbers.

“It takes several weeks for a reduction in infections to show up as a reduction in deaths.”

Professor Keith Neal, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, said:

“These figures are not unexpected, and deaths will continue to rise in the short-term as they reflect people infected up to a month ago.

“On a more positive note, there is suggestion that the number of new cases per day might be beginning to head in the right direction.

“The next few days will tell us more.”

Dr Michael Head, a researcher in global health at the University of Southampton, also warned the daily figures do not represent deaths that occurred within a 24-hour period.

He said: “The data includes cases reported to NHS England over the previous 24 hours.

“Few of these 684 deaths will have occurred over the previous day, due to the Trusts understandably often taking a few days to report their data to NHS England.

“As things stand, the daily deaths data is typically incorrectly interpreted in indicating an increase or decrease on the previous day.”

Following reports that older people in care homes may be refused admittance to hospital, Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday reassured them they will not be automatically denied care.

He said: “It is absolutely not a blanket rule that people shouldn’t go to hospitals from care homes.

“Hospital is there for people when they need it.”