Toll rising, Raab says UK ‘not yet past peak’
LONDON: The death toll in the UK rose by 717 to 11,329 on Monday, but foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the country is “not yet past the peak” of the coronavirus pandemic, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested negative after a week-long hospital stay.
The number of cases in hospitals also rose to 88,621.
Raab and senior health officials said at the daily Downing Street briefing that the government plan including social distancing “is working”, but they expect the figure to rise for one more week, before the graph flattening and then coming down.
BRITAIN FACES LOSSES IF STUDENTS STAY AWAY
Less than two months ago, education and other officials were hailing the spike in the number of UK student visas issued to Indians. But now they despair that many of the students will not arrive, come September, putting billions of pounds in income at risk.
Unions and university officials have sought a rescue package from the government to ensure the survival of centres of higher education.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, nearly 270,000 international students were expected to start courses in British universities this autumn, but recent reports from China - the largest non-EU group among international students - say many will eventually stay away. There are similar indications from India as well.
Last year, the income from fees from international students was nearly £7 billion.
The number of student visas granted to Indians in the year ending 2019 had almost doubled from the previous year -- seeing an increase of 93% to 37,540 -- the UK home office had said on February 27.