UK announces 256 more coronavirus victims taking the nation’s total death toll to 33,870
- The death of a 15-year-old marks the 13th victim under 20 in English hospitals
- Government statisticians predict around 148,000 people are currently infected
- Separate statistics today revealed 27,764 people died of COVID-19 in April
- It became the biggest cause of death in England & Wales; worse than dementia
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
British officials have today announced the deaths of 256 more coronavirus patients, including a 15-year-old, in hospitals around the UK.
This takes the nation’s total death toll to 33,870 in one of the smallest one-day increases since the beginning of April.
A full UK round-up, including people who have died in care homes or their own houses, will be released by the Department of Health later today.
Separate statistics published today by the Office for National Statistics showed that the coronavirus killed more people than cancer, dementia and heart disease combined in April, resulting in the deaths of 27,764 people.
The number of people dying in hospitals is now beginning to take a backseat to the crisis still unfolding in care homes around the UK.
The virus is still believed to be spreading faster in care homes than in the general community and the peak of residents’ deaths caused by COVID-19 appears to have peaked later than it did in hospitals, suggesting they will continue for longer.
A testing survey of more than 5,000 homes yesterday led officials to predict that there are currently somewhere between 94,000 and 222,000 people infected with the virus in the UK.
And its reproduction rate is widely believed to be lower than 1 across the country – except perhaps in care homes and hospitals – meaning the outbreak will continue to shrink unless lockdown is loosened too fast.
NHS England today announced that 186 more people had died in its hospitals with the coronavirus, including a 15-year-old.
The 15-year-old has become the 13th person under the age of 20 to die in an NHS hospital since the outbreak began.
The oldest patient in today’s statistics was 99 years old and 10 of them, aged between 30 and 94, had been healthy before they was diagnosed with the virus.
All the patients confirmed today had died since April 10.
Scotland announced 46 more people had died in its hospitals, along with 15 in Northern Ireland and nine in Wales.