Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Death toll at least 24,000 as nation observes silence
Health workers remembered with tribute
At least 24,000 people in the UK have died after suffering confirmed or suspected Covid-19, new figures show, as the nation paid tribute to frontline workers who have lost their lives. Some 24,243 deaths involving coronavirus have now been registered across the UK, analysis by the PA news agency shows, as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported there had been more than 4,000 deaths in care homes in England.
It comes as the nation held a minute’s silence on Tuesday to honour those who have lost their lives on the frontline following a campaign from Unison, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal of College of Nursing.
People across the UK paused for a minute in tribute to the sacrifice made by those in roles ranging from doctors and nurses to carers, cleaners, porters and bus drivers.
More than 100 NHS and social care workers are now known to have died in the UK, after testing positive for Covid-19, according to analysis by the PA news agency.
In Kent they include Aimee O’rourke, a nurse who worked in the acute medical unit at QEQM hospital in Margate and Vivek Sharma who had been working for Medway Community Healthcare when he tested positive for Covid-19. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has just returned to work this week after recovering from Covid-19, joined the countrywide commemoration, as did Health Secretary Matt Hancock. It comes as the NHS is preparing to resume key non-coronavirus services, including the most urgent cancer care, over fears thousands of patients could be having their illnesses made worse or missed altogether. Professor Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist and dean at the University of Buckingham medical school, said the NHS must get going again on heart and cancer care, adding there was a need to avoid a “catastrophe” on cancer.
Mr Hancock was also questioned on radio about whether he thinks there had been ‘lockdown fatigue’ and said: “If you look at surveys of the public, if you talk to members of the public, if you look at how much the public are following the measures, the public are following the lockdown brilliantly. “The number of people who are following the rules remains incredibly high.
“The numbers taking journeys, for instance, has barely changed on three weeks ago.”