Worst day for UK as deaths surge by 115 in just 24 hours

BRITAIN’S coronavirus death toll rose by 115 yesterday in what was by far its biggest 24-hour surge.

This was the first time it had increased by more than 100 in a day and came after the previous figure had suggested the rate was starting to fall.

The virus has now claimed 578 lives in Britain and officials say lockdown measures of varying degrees might have to stay in place until the autumn.

Yesterday’s death rate was nearly three times higher than the 41 recorded on Wednesday, but health officials stressed that this was because the lower figure covered the eight-hour period left over from when officials changed the timeframe of the reporting system – which usually covers 24 hours.

Deaths had been counted from 9am to 9am each day and then published that afternoon. From now on they will be recorded from 5pm to 5pm and reported the following day, which officials say will give them more time to inform relatives and check accuracy. In a further sign that the epidemic is only just beginning, the deputy chief medical officer yesterday suggested that some lockdown measures would be in place for six months.

Dr Jenny Harries said it was ‘not implausible’ that some social distancing policies would need to be in place until the autumn.

But she said some measures could be lifted – such as telling the public to stay at home – as the number of cases started to fall. Yesterday’s figures also show there have been 11,658 confirmed infections in the UK, up from 9,529 the previous day.

These numbers are a fraction of the total as officials are only testing patients in hospital, despite calls from the World Health Organisation to expand this much more widely.

The head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, said hospitals were facing their biggest challenge since the Second World War.

He said: ‘I don’t think in the history of the NHS there’s been anything quite like it.’