*A man wearing a protective face mask cycles in central London, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson has put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
News reaching us from the United Kingdom (UK) has it that the country has recorded 917 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths since the pandemic hit the Queensland. The deaths sadly include an 11-year-old. Even the UK Prime Minister, Mr. Boris Johnson is also suffering from the disease but has left the intensive care unit.
The Department of Health said this brings the total number of UK deaths to 9,875, making it likely that the toll will probably pass 10,000 by Easter Sunday. The figures are accurate as at 5.00p.m. on Friday. The rise in cases announced on Saturday was slightly lower than the rise of 980 announced on Friday. A total of 823 new deaths were in England, with NHS England saying victims there were aged between 11 and 102. The deaths include 208 in London, 197 in the North West of England and 165 in the Midlands.
Some 33 of the victims in England had no known underlying health condition – they were aged between 29 and 94. The total number of deaths in England is now 8,937. Meanwhile, Scotland announced it had recorded 47 new COVID-19 deaths – taking the total there to 542. In Wales there were 36 deaths, bringing the total to 351. Another 15 people have died in Northern Ireland, taking the total there to 107. Also among the UK dead are at least 19 NHS workers, something Health Secretary Matt Hancock described as a “heartbreaking story.”
Mr Hancock told Sky News on Saturday that he is not aware of a link to a shortage of personal protective equipment but that a full investigation would be carried out. Across the UK, there had been 78,991 confirmed cases of the virus as at 9am on Saturday. Worldwide, more than 1.7 million people have tested positive for the virus, with more than 103,000 deaths, according to data from US university Johns Hopkins.
