UK coronavirus deaths jump by 861 to take total past 13,000
The UK has counted another 861 coronavirus deaths today as another 4,618 people tested positive for the infection.
That means 13,839 Brits have now died from coronavirus, while the total number of infections has jumped past 100,000.
Today’s number of coronavirus deaths is higher than yesterday’s figure for the UK of 761. And today’s infection rate matched yesterday’s total of 4,605.
It comes after chief medical officer Chris Whitty yesterday said the UK is “probably” seeing its coronavirus outbreak peak.
“We do all think this has flattened out, but sadly we do think high numbers of deaths will continue for a short while,” he said.
“My expectation would be that the number of deaths may well go up, because after every weekend we see a dip over the weekend, and for two days afterwards, then an increase as we catch up with the numbers. After a long four day weekend there may be a bounce up tomorrow.”
The government’s top scientific advisers are set to meet today to decide whether to extend the UK coronavirus lockdown. A three-week extension to take restrictions into early May is likely, according to reports. Coronavirus deaths remain high in the UK, while infections are yet to fall.
That comes as the Resolution Foundation warned the UK risks a permanent, and deep, economic hit from prolonged social distancing measures.
The think tank today said the UK could recover quickly from a three-month lockdown. But a longer lockdown of six to 12 months could take five years to recover from.
Markets are looking for signs of the coronavirus lockdowns easing to kickstart world economies. But Whitty said that while UK infections are plateauing, coronavirus deaths may not.
‘We won’t go back to normal’
Prof Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, today told the BBC that relaxing the coronavirus lockdown depends on “how quickly case numbers go down”.
First the government must scale up tests for coronavirus, he said. The government has set itself an ambitious target of 100,000 daily tests by the end of April. But two weeks away from that deadline, the UK tested just 11,170 people today.
Ferguson added that other measures – such as contact tracing – will be necessary when travel restrictions ease.
“And I should say, it’s not going to be going back to normal,” he told the BBC. “We will have to maintain some level of social distancing, a significant level of social distancing, probably indefinitely until we have a vaccine available.”