Another 708 people have died after contracting coronavirus, taking the UK death toll to 4,313. It is another record daily rise since the beginning of the outbreak, following yesterday’s figures, Metro News reports.
A total of 41,903 people have now tested positive for Covid-19. The Scottish Government said 46 more people had passed away, bringing Scotland’s total to 218.
A further 13 deaths were recorded in Wales, taking the country’s toll to 154, and Northern Ireland’s total rose by eight to 56.
The latest figures come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he has written to opposition party leaders – including new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – inviting them to a briefing to set out a pathway through ‘this national emergency’.
He congratulated Sir Keir and the two agreed to meet next week to discuss the crisis. In his victory speech, posted online, Sir Keir said Labour had a ‘shared purpose’ with the Government in getting the country through the Covid-19 outbreak.
NHS England said a five-year-old child is among 637 people who tested positive for Covid-19 and have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in English hospitals to 3,939.
The oldest patient was 104, and 40 patients aged between 48 and 93 had no known underlying conditions.
Their families have been informed. NHS England said 212 of the deaths of patients with Covid-19 were in the Midlands, with 127 in London, 97 in the North West, 73 in the North East and Yorkshire, 70 in the East of England, 41 in the South East and 17 in the South West.
One of the senior scientists advising the government warned that the infection rate will stay high for ‘weeks and weeks’ if people broke social distancing rules this weekend. Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, said that while the epidemic was expected to plateau in the next week to 10 days, people’s behaviour was critical to determining what happens next.
His warning followed similar ones from Mr Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock urging people to stick with the measures and resist the temptation to enjoy the sunshine forecast for swathes of the UK on Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, up to 4,000 inmates in England and Wales are set to be temporarily released from jail in an effort to try and control the spread of coronavirus in the prison system.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the selected low-risk offenders will be electronically tagged and subject to short-term release on licence in stages, although they can be recalled at the first sign of concern.
It is seen as a way to avoid thousands of prisoners, many of whom share cells, from becoming infected. The move comes as 88 prisoners and 15 staff have tested positive for Covid-19. The MoJ said no offender convicted of Covid-19-related offences, including coughing at emergency workers or stealing personal protective equipment, will be eligible.
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland QC said: ‘This Government is committed to ensuring that justice is served to those who break the law. ‘But this is an unprecedented situation because if coronavirus takes hold in our prisons, the NHS could be overwhelmed and more lives put at risk.’
The death rate of those admitted to intensive care with coronavirus has topped 50%, according to the latest available figures. According to data compiled by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC), of the 690 patients sampled whose care outcomes were known, 346 patients had died, while 344 were discharged.
By way of comparison, just 22.4% of patients admitted to intensive care with non-Covid-19 viral pneumonia between 2017 and 2019 died of the disease.
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