major concerns have been raised over
tens of thousands of seriously ill
people in England who may not be seeking
help because of fears that they might
catch the coronavirus in hospital all be
a burden to the NHS the number of visits
to A&E departments has fallen by more
than half since the outbreak began
doctors worry that serious conditions
like heart attacks and strokes are being
overlooked there are concerns to that
other treatments have had to be delayed
while the NHS focuses on tackling the
coronavirus another 428 deaths have been
reported in the past 24 hours bringing
the total number linked to coronavirus
across the UK to 30 3614 here's our
health editor Hugh pin plenty of stuff
and not many patients it's got a little
busier here in A&E in recent days but
not much like many other hospitals they
saw an astonishing drop in the number of
patients coming through the doors last
month April here was busy from a covert
nineteen perspective dealing with sick
patients it was all very calm controlled
and safe but we were busy from that
perspective but we saw a real
chopped-off in demand of other types of
patients that we usually see normally
assessment cubicles in A&E would be
pretty busy but right now all these ones
along here are empty therefore non
Kovach patients it's a sign of how
different things are right now worry is
that people who might need urgent care
are staying away because they're scared
of catching the virus the message from
all hospitals were open for business and
patients who need treatment should come
in if you are concerned about having a
stroke a heart attack
perhaps cancer do come forward and at
the same time the NHS will be
redesigning the way in which services
are offered to keep them safe the latest
figures for England show that ane visits
fell by nearly 57 percent in the year to
April the monthly total was below nine
hundred and seventeen thousand the
lowest since records began in 2010 there
are no comparable figures yet from other
parts of the UK the number coming in for
routine operations fell by nearly a
third in the year to March
was about the same in Scotland all
non-emergency surgery was postponed
because the NHS needed to clear beds for
coronavirus patients but that's left
others like Helen frustrated she was
told she needed a hysterectomy urgently
in February it didn't happen and she
hasn't heard anymore if something is
being urgent it seemed urgent for reason
I think there are an awful lot of people
who have various conditions that are
being put very you know a great risk of
further damage due to these precautions
being taken Jane has been waiting since
February for a gallbladder operation and
again hasn't been told when it could
happen
I understand current situation that you
know I'm not a priority I understand
that Felice it does concern me that I'd
like to get it over and done with really
and you know so that I feel that it
won't build up again and there won't be
any further problem NHS England has now
told hospitals to restart non urgent
operations and procedures but patients
will be instructed to self isolate for
14 days beforehand
along with members of their household a
reminder of the continuing concern about
the possible spread of the virus q p.m.
BBC news a new blood test which can
detect whether someone has been infected
with corona virus has been given the
go-ahead for use in England the antibody
test has been developed by the Swiss
drug company rush frontline workers will
be the first to use it scientists have
called a move a very positive
development but it's not clear yet where
the antibodies actually protect against
a new infection here's our medical
correspondent Fergus Walsh
it's what millions of Britons want to
know have they already had coronavirus
now it's possible to find out for sure
with a blood test it has to go through
lab analysis this can be done by hand
like here at Imperial College London or
in an automated process like a new
highly accurate antibody test approved
for use in the UK if you get infected
with coronavirus your immune system
starts to produce antibodies these
become part of your immune systems
memory so if you get exposed to the
virus again they should attack it but
how much protection they'll give and how
long that immunity will last is unclear
for some coronaviruses we know that that
protection can fade and we know from
experiments many years ago for example
that is possible to reinfect individuals
with exactly the same corona virus maybe
a year later even though they developed
antibodies to start with and so we have
to be careful to assume that any
antibody will last a long time rosh says
it can provide hundreds of thousands of
its antibody tests to the UK each week
pharmacies and health clinics could be
involved in collecting blood samples I
anticipate that it will be rapidly
rolled out in the days and weeks to come
as soon as it is practical to do so I
also anticipate that the focus will be
on the National Health Service and on
carers in the first instance there are
several other types of antibody tests
which only require a finger prick of
blood
some of which are being trialed by NHS
staff
despite buying three and a half million
of them the government concluded none
was accurate enough this is another way
of testing for antibodies you prick your
thumb and then apply a blood spot to
this piece of card which is then sent
off to a laboratory for very
sophisticated analysis that dry spot
blood test is being developed at
Imperial College London it's planning to
send out a hundred thousand home testing
antibody kits once they're proven to be
accurate and easy to use both sides by
your tonsils remember it's a swab test
like this which will show if you're
currently infected with corona virus
thanks very much so this remains crucial
in preventing the spread of the virus
well meanwhile a clearer picture is
beginning to emerge of the scale of the
coronavirus outbreak in england official
estimates suggests that during a
two-week period at the start of this
month nearly 150,000 people or one in
every 400 had covered 19
well Fergus is here with me now and
crucially these were not people in
hospital or care homes yes this came
from a survey of 11,000 volunteers
around England who performed swab tests
home and from that the Office for
National Statistics has worked out that
around 1 in 400 people in England at the
moment have a current coronavirus
infection now that means outside of
hospitals or care homes your chances of
bumping into somebody on the tube the
train the bus in your daily life with
coronavirus is quite low but still
150,000 people social distancing remains
crucial because we don't know who those
1 in 400 people are and that's why
testing and tracing people who have a
current infection are vital if we're to
bear down on the virus we also got more
information today about those who are
being worst affected by this virus and
it seems that if you have diabetes you
are particularly vulnerable yes one in
four deaths so far in English hospitals
of people who had diabetes now in most
of people with diabetes over 65 where
most of the deaths are with coronavirus
it's about 1 in 8 people have diabetes
but one in four deaths so double the
background proportion now we don't know
why that is but we know that diabetes
can lead to a weakened immune response
one other things Sophie 19 out of 20
deaths so far and all those people have
had some kind of underlying health
condition like heart disease or lung
disease
thank you