Daily coronavirus death toll will continue to rise for at least 2 weeks after Easter, Govt warns
THE daily death toll will continue to rise for two weeks after the coronavirus peak, the Government has warned.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the country’s top scientist, said the number of people who die from Covid-19 will continue to go up after infections reach their height.
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Speaking at the Downing Street daily briefing, he said that the number of new infections will need to fall before death figures follow.
Asked about how long he expected to see deaths continue to rise, Sir Patrick said: “In general, I’d expect the deaths to keep going up for about two weeks after the intensive care picture improves.
“So, we’re not there yet in terms of knowing exactly when that will be but that’s the sort of time frame I’d expect.”
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Sir Patrick said for that reason it is important to continue with the measures that are currently in place.
“The measures that everybody has taken, the difficult things that we’ve all had to do, are making a difference, they’re making a big difference,” he said.
“We know that the social distancing is working and we know that people are doing what they’re supposed to do and we need to keep doing that.
I’d expect the deaths to keep going up for about two weeks after the intensive care picture improves
Sir Patrick Vallance
“And the reason we need to keep doing that is because it stops the transmission of the virus in the community and we know that that is already happening.”
He added: “The message is clear which is the social distancing we’re doing is breaking transmission, it’s stopping the hospital admissions, beginning to see that flattening off, still unbelievably busy but beginning to see that flatten off, it’s preventing more people going into intensive care and it will prevent deaths.”
Lockdown measures
On the lockdown measures, Mr Raab said “we’re not done yet” before adding data is being gathered on the impact of social-distancing.
He said: “While the early signs suggest that they are having the impact we need to see, it’s too early to say that conclusively.
“Sage will meet next week to discuss the latest evidence and we will keep the measures we’ve put in place under review.”
Mr Raab added: “We don’t expect to be able to say more on this until the end of next week.
“The measures will have to stay in place until we’ve got the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak.”
Mr Raab said it was still “too early” to lift the lockdown restrictions in place across the UK.
He added: “It’s been almost three weeks and we’re starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we’ve all made.
“But the deaths are still rising and we haven’t yet reached the peak of the virus. So it’s still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.
“We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.”
Mr Raab added: “After all the efforts everybody has made, after all the sacrifices so many people have made let’s not ruin it now.
“Let’s not undo the gains we’ve made, let’s not waste the sacrifices so many people have made.
“We mustn’t give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and to hurt our country.”
Death toll
It comes as the number of coronavirus deaths in England surged by 881 today – bringing the grim UK total to 7,978.
NHS England confirmed the latest victims were aged between 24 and 103, including 43 with no underlying health conditions.
The latest figure means the total number of deaths in England is now at 7,248.
Today’s number is lower than yesterday when 828 deaths in hospital in England were recorded.
Among the deaths announced today is a top doctor who warned Boris Johnson about the need for “urgent” PPE in the fight against coronavirus.
Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died after battling the bug for 15 days in hospital.
He is understood to be the 20th known NHS worker to die from the disease while fighting it on the frontline.
The grim death toll had dropped for two days running on Sunday and Monday – but this was the same pattern as last Monday suggesting a possible lag in deaths recorded over the weekend.
But the number of victims has been rising – with the equivalent of one Brit dying from the bug every two minutes.
It comes as ministers are preparing to extend the lockdown into May after warning that relaxing it too soon will kill thousands more.
Police enforcement
Meanwhile, police will have the “full support” of Government in enforcing the coronavirus lockdown, Downing Street has said.
As the country heads into the Easter bank holiday weekend, No 10 said it is at a “critical juncture” in the battle to curb the spread of the disease.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman made clear there can be no early lifting of the strict social distancing rules, urging the public to “stick with it”.
The spokesman also said Boris Johnson’s condition is “continuing to improve” after a third night in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital where he is being treated for Covid-19.
The call came amid fears the expected fine weather over the weekend will again see crowds flocking to beaches and beauty spots, threatening to undermine the progress which ministers and officials say has been made.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said individual police forces will use their “discretion” as to how the measures are enforced.
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He said: “We have given them a job to do. They will use their own discretion about how they best do that job.
“The powers which we have given the police are there to save lives. The police have our full backing and they have the public’s backing too.
“They have set out in advice to officers that they should engage, explain and finally enforce.”