Coronavirus death toll in UK hospitals passes 15,000 with 888 more Covid-19 fatalities

Jacob Jarvis18 April 2020

The death toll of coronavirus patients in UK hospitals has passed 15,000.

As of 5pm on Friday, there had been 15,464 fatalities among Covid-19 patients, according to the Department of Health.

That was up 888 from the same time the day before.

As of 9am on Saturday, 357,023 people have been tested for the virus, of which 114,217 tested positive.

Overall, 460,437 tests have concluded.

There were 21,389 tests on Friday, excluding data from Northern Ireland.

It is feared the true toll of coronavirus victims may be far higher, with the numbers not accounting for deaths in the community. Care homes are not included in the figures, amid fears some 7,500 people could have died after catching Covid-19 in such environments.

The update comes as the UK faces its fourth weekend in lockdown, after the measures were extended for at least three more weeks earlier this week.

The Government is under increasing pressure to explain how it intends to lift the restrictions, with calls from senior Tory MPs to give more detail on strategy.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson defended the Government position today.

They said: “The Government has already set out five clear tests to consider before making any adjustment to its approach.

“At all times we have been consistently guided by scientific advice to protect lives.

“The current advice from Sage is that relaxing any of the measures could risk damage to public health, our economy, and the sacrifices we have all made."

Meanwhile, there are growing fears of personal protective equipment for medical and care workers, with NHS staff instructed to reuse kit where possible.

The lack of resources has sparked a backlash, while there are also fears some hospitals could run out PPE this weekend.

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