[News]Coronavirus: UK hospital deaths pass 20,000

[RaykZ0r]

                                                           

 

 

 

 

                                                       More than 20,000 people have now died with coronavirus in UK hospitals, the Department of Health has announced.

 

 

          

The latest figures showed a total of 20,319 deaths in the UK, up by 813 on the previous day.

At the government's daily briefing, the home secretary described the figure as a "tragic and terrible milestone".

Last month, the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said keeping deaths below 20,000 would be a good outcome.

It is 51 days since the first virus-related death was announced in the UK.

At the Downing Street briefing, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "As the deaths caused by this terrible virus pass another tragic and terrible milestone, the entire nation is grieving."

She warned that "we are not out of the woods yet", and said people must continue to follow social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The government's figures do not account for deaths that have happened in care homes, at home, in hospices or elsewhere in the community.

These are measured separately by the Office for National Statistics, based on death certificates, and a weekly figure is announced each Tuesday.

Last week that figure indicated that there were at least 1,662 deaths, up to 10 April, that were above the hospital-based number.

The fact we have now passed the grim milestone outlined by Sir Patrick Vallance in less than two months is both a tragedy for the families affected and a worry to the rest of the country.

There are strong signs - at least in hospitals - that we have passed the peak of deaths.

The fact that may have happened without the health service being overwhelmed in the way Italy's was is at least some good news.

However, the deaths in care homes, which the daily figures from government do not include, are rising rapidly and could prove very difficult to get under control.

In fact, if we included them we would have passed the 20,000 mark some time ago.

Asked about his and Sir Patrick's previous comments, Prof Powis said: "What we were emphasising is that this is a new virus, a global pandemic, a once-in-a-century global health crisis.

"And this was going to be a huge challenge not just for the UK, but for every country."

He added that it was unlikely the UK and other countries would recover from the pandemic in the next few weeks.

"This is not a sprint, this will be a marathon," he said.

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by -Dark
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