UK coronavirus death toll among Covid-19 hospital patients rises by lowest number since March

Rebecca Speare-Cole27 April 2020

The death toll among coronavirus patients in UK hospitals has risen by the lowest one-day total since March 30.

Matt Hancock announced that the number of people who have died in UK hospitals has risen by 360 in the last 24 hours.

The new figure brings the UK death toll to 21,092 as of 5pm on Sunday, up from 20,732 the day before.

At the Downing Street press briefing, Mr Hancock confirmed there have been 719,910 tests for coronavirus so far in the UK, including 37,024 on Sunday.

Some 157,149 people have now tested positive, an increase of 4,310 cases since Sunday.

NHS England announced 329 new deaths on Monday, while there were 13 recorded in Scotland. A further eight deaths were recorded in Wales, bringing the total to 350.

The total is based on separate NHS figures and is usually different to the number of deaths recorded by the Department of Health.

But both Sunday’s figure of 336 and today’s figure represents the first time it has dipped below 400 since the start of the month.

It comes as Boris Johnson told the nation earlier that there were “real signs now that we are passing through the peak” and thanked the public for their “grit and guts” so far.

The Prime Minister returned to Downing Street on Sunday night after he was hospitalised three weeks ago with the disease.

Making his first public speech in a month this morning, the Prime Minister asked families and businesses to be patient and not “throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people”.

He warned Brits: “This is the moment of maximum risk,” despite signs that Covid-19 cases and deaths are plateauing.

The lowest figure before today was on Sunday, when 413 new deaths were recorded nationwide, bringing the total to more than 20,500, according to official Government figures.

Before that, the lowest daily toll was on March 30, when 180 were recorded to have died by the Department of Health.

The PM warned the British public: “This is the moment of maximum risk,” despite signs that Covid-19 cases and deaths are plateauing
REUTERS

The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England is 18,749, according to NHS England.

Of the 329 new deaths announced by NHS England, 58 occurred on April 26, 162 occurred on April 25 and. 50 occurred on April 24.

The figures also show 40 of the new deaths took place between April 1 and April 23 while the remaining 19 deaths occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on March 17.

Boris Johnson speaks outside 10 Downing Street after recovering from the coronavirus disease
Via REUTERS

The figures published by NHS England show April 8 continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths occurring on a single day, with a current total of 857.

Public Health Wales said a further 203 people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 9,280.

Dr Giri Shankar, from Public Health Wales, said: “Based on the new case numbers, there is emerging evidence suggesting a levelling-off in the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Wales, which may be an indication of the effectiveness of lockdown measures.

One month since UK lockdown - In pictures

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“However, it is still too early to tell for sure and it is too soon to end the current social distancing rules.”

Meanwhile, a total of 1,262 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 13 from 1,249 on Sunday, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister said 10,521 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 197 from 10,324 the day before.

There are 134 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, an increase of one on Sunday, she added.

There are 1,762 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19.

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Ms Sturgeon added that 2,380 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have now been able to leave hospital.

She said the overall trend in statistics gives “cause for cautious optimism”.

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