THE CRACKDOWN MAY NEED TO GET TOUGHER

As death rate surges, threat of tougher restrictions

BRITAIN’S coronavirus death toll surged by 181 yesterday as Government advisers warned that even stricter social distancing measures could be on the way.

It is by far the biggest daily increase and means the disease has claimed 759 lives, including young and previously healthy people.

Government advisers said stricter social distancing policies may have to be rolled out next month if the grim figures continued to rise. The measures would be introduced in three weeks as the outbreak reached its peak to further reduce ‘person-to-person interaction’.

This week France announced that individuals could only exercise alone – unless with children – for a maximum of an hour and within 1,000 yards of their homes.

Spain and Italy have banned exercise altogether, and there are concerns that Britons are deliberately misinterpreting the guidance by travelling to beauty spots miles from their homes.

Yesterday’s figures show that London hospitals recorded the highest number of new deaths at 54, followed by West Midlands hospitals with 19.

But these numbers do not include patients who die at home or in care homes, meaning the true number may be higher.

A senior government adviser suggested the figures would continue to rise for at least the next three weeks, meaning the peak is likely to hit at Easter.

The adviser said hospitals ‘should be OK’, but admitted ‘ we can’t guarantee it’ and stressed some intensive care units may struggle to cope. And should the number of deaths rise significantly, ‘ greater enforcement’ of social distancing policies would have to be introduced. This would include ‘ anything that can be done to push it (down) further’ and prevent people catching the disease.

The adviser added: ‘I expect death numbers to increase over two, three or four weeks, and then to gradually decrease.’

Officials were generally ‘ very happy’ with the levels of compliance with social distancing guidance, despite some Britons travelling some distance to beauty spots in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales to exercise.

The advice says the public should leave their house only to shop for groceries, provide or receive medical care, travel to work or exercise, and only once a day.

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK now stands at 14,543, up from 11,658. But this is a huge underestimate of the true figure as most patients with the virus are not being tested.

Professor Jim Naismith, an expert in structural biology at Oxford University, said: ‘Although

Covid-19 is a mild disease for over 80 per cent of us, today’s deaths will have come as a terrible blow to families. The increase in the deaths are following the exponential pattern predicted. This means we are likely to continue to see further increases in the numbers of daily deaths until social distancing measures have their effect.

‘The deaths tomorrow and in the days ahead will be of people who were infected before the social distancing measures were implemented. I understand the temptation to live on each day’s numbers, but what matters is what is ahead of us and what we can do to save lives.’ Dr Mike Tildesley, of the University of Warwick, added: ‘We may expect to see the number of daily confirmed cases continue to climb, before starting to decline once the current social distancing measures start to have an effect.’ Latest coronavirus video news, views and expert advice at mailplus.co.uk/coronavirus

‘Person-to-person interaction’