the number of people known to have died
with coronavirus in hospital past 20,000
today a somber milestone
it means Britain has become the fifth
country in the world to register that
number of deaths from the illness in the
last 24 hours
813 people are reported to have died
mostly in hospitals across the UK it
brings the total UK death toll to 20,000
319 people but that figure doesn't
include deaths in care homes all the
community in England and Northern
Ireland at the daily government press
conference the Home Secretary Priti
Patel described the deaths as tragic but
admitted the country isn't out of the
woods yet in its fight against
coronavirus here's our health
correspondent Lauren Moss it is a
devastating milestone no-one wanted to
reach in less than two months more than
20,000 people have died with kovat 19
these are deaths recorded mainly in UK
hospitals the number of those who've
lost their lives in the community
including Care Homes isn't fully known
but is likely to increase as a death
caused by this terrible virus pass
another tragic and terrible milestone
the entire nation is grieving my deepest
sympathies and condolences go to those
who have lost loved ones and I would
like to pay tribute to the selfless
frontline workers who have been struck
down by this virus on the 28th of March
professor Powis you said we will have
done very well if fewer than 20,000
people died during this epidemic and we
have sadly passed that number now does
this mean the strategy should have been
different this unfortunately is not
going to be something that we will get
over in the next few weeks this is
something that we are going to continue
to have to work our way through over the
months ahead as I've said before this is
not a sprint this will be a marathon in
dealing with this virus test track and
trace our key strategies to tackle the
virus the drive to check key workers
with symptoms continue today and there's
a big demand within a couple of
hours of the government's booking
website opening slots have been quickly
snapped up once again when we looked
this morning home test kits were gone
after 15 minutes and drive through sites
were only available in Scotland after 10
a.m.
more tests will be available tomorrow
Mandy works in a supermarket in Derby
she's been unwell since Monday she has
got an appointment but even though she
lives near some test centres
she's been allocated 120 miles away in
Nottingham more than 28 thousand tests
were done in the last 24 hours
the government's committed to carrying
out a hundred thousand a day by Thursday
next week will be our fifth in lockdown
and there's no prospect of measures
being relaxed we know that people are
frustrated but we are not out of danger
yet it is imperative that people
continue to follow the rules designed to
protect their families their friends and
their loved ones the UK will continue to
find a way through this pandemic as a
nation mourning those it's lost and
Lauren joins me now Lauren these are
deeply sad personal tragedies for many
families across the UK but can you put
that number into context for us the
first person to die with kovat 19 in the
UK was on the 5th of March then 3,000
people around the world had died now
we've passed more than 20,000 deaths
here internationally 200,000 and this is
a very real and harrowing insight into
just how quickly this virus spreads and
also shows why lockdown measures and
social distancing measures are so
important one of the graphs we were
shown at the press conference earlier
demonstrates how it's working there are
16 and a half thousand people being
treated in hospital for the virus and as
you can see overall in London the
Midlands and Scotland new admissions are
declining they're steady in Wales
there has been a slightly slower climb
up in Northern Ireland although this
data isn't compiled daily so it's not
directly comparable with the others but
the health service hasn't been
overwhelmed and in fact aside from
covert 19 there are concerns that fewer
people are seeking medical help for
other illnesses conditions like heart
conditions and stroke or pregnant women
and and sick children and ane
attendances actually were down by about
a million this month compared to this
time last year and this could be because
people don't want to be a burden on the
NHS but the NHS is urging and reminding
anyone who may need to to see a doctor
to do so because of course although the
coronavirus is a huge challenge other
illnesses do very much still exist and
it's important that they don't go
unchecked and become forgotten Laura
Moss thank you very much indeed in the
last few minutes it's been announced
that the Prime Minister will return to
work on Monday after falling ill with
corona virus it'll be exactly three
weeks after Boris Johnson was moved into
intensive care following his admission
in hospital in London well our political
correspondent in Watson is at
Westminster for us so it is Boris
Johnson fully recovered well to know
doning Street are emphasizing that the
Prime Minister has been following
medical advice throughout this crisis
since he was first diagnosed about a
month ago and what is interesting is
that although he was supposed to be
recuperating at his country retreat of
checkers in truth he's been spending
most of the past week preparing for his
return to work in Downing Street not
just those calls with President Trump
and with the Queen but also daily
videoconferencing with his team and
significantly a three-hour summit with
some of the senior members of the
cabinet including his de-facto deputy
Dominic Raab and crucially the
Chancellor as well but when he sets foot
in Downing Street he will face a whole
series of challenges because of our
mutterings from some of his own MPs
about the lockdown and the effect it's
having on the economy the former
Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested that
perhaps indeed the economy could become
the greatest victim of this virus he's
also going to be receiving a letter from
the opposition leader from the Labour
leader sakir stammer who
calling for greater clarity on how we
will exit the lockdown in due course
there I think when the Prime Minister
does make some announcements unless I'm
told we were like this simply to see
modifications to the current measures
he's very keen to avoid his second wave
of this virus and interestingly at that
check of Summit I was mentioning it
partly quoted the Roman philosopher
Cicero I mean he wouldn't Lee had in
English and the phrase he used is that
the health of the people should be the
supreme law and I think that gives us a
big clue about where Boris Johnson
stands on this lockdown debate
Ian thank you Ian Watson at Westminster
for us