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After over 11,000 deaths, UK not yet past peak
The death figures relate only to those in hospitals and do not include those in retirement villages, care homes and hospices; together, the overall figure is expected to be higher than 11,329.
The death toll in the United Kingdom rose by 717 to 11,329 on Monday, but foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the country is “not yet past the peak” of the coronavirus pandemic, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested negative after a week-long hospital stay.
The number of cases in hospitals also rose to 88,621. The death figures relate only to those in hospitals and do not include those in retirement villages, care homes and hospices; together, the overall figure is expected to be higher than 11,329.
Raab and senior health officials said at the daily Downing Street briefing that the government plan including social distancing “is working”, but they expect the figure to rise for one more week, before the graph flattening and then coming down.
Johnson, who is recuperating in the prime minster’s country residence of Chequers in Buckinghamshire, tested negative for coronavirus, officials said, but is not yet engaging with official work, which has been delegated to Raab.
Raab said the death figure was ‘grizzly’ but did not expect any changes to be made to current lockdown measures until officials can be confident of improvement reflected in data and conditions. Despite the bright warm weather, he wanted Britons to stay at home.
“If we let up now the virus will only take advantage, spread faster and kill more people. Our plan is working. Please stick with it and we will get through this crisis together. We are still going through the peak stage,” Raab said.
Ministers continued to face criticism over lack of person protection equipment in various hospitals, as the number of health professionals succumbing to the virus grows.
