The UK has announced a preliminary daily Covid-19 death toll of 106, taking the official count to 38,482.
Department of Health officials – who release the UK’s final coronavirus count every afternoon – have yet to update the official figures.
This preliminary toll is calculated by adding up the individual tallies of each of the home nations and is normally lower than what the Government announces later in the day.
If today’s count remains below 110, it would be the lowest figure since lockdown was imposed on March 23 – when 74 deaths were recorded.
Last Sunday officials reported a further 118 deaths, a 30 per cent drop from the week before.
Today NHS England announced 85 more Covid-19 fatalities in hospitals only, while Scotland and Wales recorded nine and 11 deaths across all settings, respectively. Northern Ireland announced one death.
Back-dated data from death certificates shows more than 46,000 people had been killed by the virus by May 15, 36 per cent more than the official toll given by the Department of Health (33,998) at that time.
If the same mathematical sum was applied to yesterday’s DH count of 38,316, it would suggest the true death toll currently is around the 50,000 mark.
Despite the Prime Minister saying the government’s five tests have been met and it is safe to start relaxing restrictions from tomorrow, the alert level remains at four.
There are still 54,000 new infections happening each week – down from 61,000 per week at the start of May – and 133,000 people are thought to currently have the virus, down from 137,000. This means one in 1,000 people are still catching it.
In other coronavirus developments today:
- Ms Sturgeon accused England of under-reporting deaths in care homes, saying that is why Scotland’s figures look worse;
- The PM has praised the public’s ‘resilience’ as families across England will finally be able to see their elderly relatives again tomorrow, with millions of vulnerable people ‘shielding’ are given the green light to spend time outdoors;
- Chief science officer Patrick Vallance insisted ministers make final decisions on policy as he defended his SAGE advisory group from rising criticism;
- Chancellor Rishi Sunak is drawing up an emergency budget for July amid fears that the economy is descending into meltdown;
- Police and local authorities are braced for beaches, parks and beauty spots to be crammed again with the weather expected to be fine, despite government advisers appealing for people not to ‘knock the pants out’ of new rules;
- Unions dismissed the idea that school summer holidays should be cancelled to allow pupils to catch up, saying teachers deserved time off after working ‘flat out’ during lockdown.
England is set to move into the next phase of the lockdown from tomorrow, with primary schools and nurseries told they can start to reopen.
Up to six people from six different households permitted to meet up in public places or gardens, putting exercise classes and barbecues back on the agenda.
A series of experts have raised concern about the move from Westminster – which has not been replicated in Scotland or Wales.
It will be around two or three weeks before the effects of the latest easing of restrictions is known, but Prof Devi Sridhar, who has been advising the Scottish government, warned it looks ‘inevitable’ that cases will rise again in England.
‘I’m very sorry to say that I think it is right now inevitable looking at the numbers,’ she told Sky.
‘If your objective is to contain the virus, to drive numbers down and to try to in a sense get rid of it so no-one is exposed to it, then it is not the right measure right now to open up.
‘It’s a big risk and gamble for exiting lockdown with a larger number of deaths than we did when we actually entered lockdown months back.’
Prof Sridhar said there was now a clear divide between Government and some scientists, but added that ultimately decisions will be made by politicians.
She said: ‘I think what they should be saying is they consider the science, and hopefully they listen to it but the decision, and who actually has the accountability, are the politicians and leaders.’
Professor Peter Openshaw, who sits on the the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) to the Government, said people must proceed with ‘great caution’ as the lockdown is eased.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme: ‘At the moment, we still have quite a large number of cases out there in the community and I think unlocking too fast carries a great risk that all the good work that’s been put in by everyone, to try to reduce transmission may be lost. So we do need to proceed with great, great care at this point.’
Asked if the Government is going too fast, he said: ‘I think there is a pretty unanimous message now that we need to take this slowly and go step by step. We need to evaluate the effect of each step before we move to the next one.’
Professor John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the Prime Minister had ‘clearly made a political decision’ because the threat of a second peak remains high.
But after his comments, the chair of the government’s Sage board has said it is for the government to decide when to ease lockdown measures.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Patrick Vallance, who heads up the advisory board of scientists guiding the government through this pandemic, explained Sage was only there to advise politicians, who have the final say on what to do with evidence presented to them.
Sir Patrick, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government since March 2018, wrote: ‘Science advice to Cobr and to ministers needs to be direct and given without fear or favour. But it is advice. Ministers must decide and have to take many other factors into consideration.’
Dominic Raab has also come to the Government’s defense on easing coronavirus lockdown in England, despite a chorus of warnings about a second spike. But he admitted that curbs will have to be tightened again if there is an ‘uptick’ in cases.
Asked whether the lockdown will be tightened again if infection rates increase, Mr Raab told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday: ‘We will target, if there is any uptick, and it could be in a locality, it could be in a particular setting, we will target very carefully measures that would apply to it so that we can take these steps but also keep control of the virus.’
The Foreign Secretary acknowledged the loosening that takes effect tomorrow is a ‘sensitive moment’, but insisted the government was making sensible changes to get the country back up and running.
‘We can’t just stay in lockdown forever. We have got to transition,’ he said.
Mr Raab played down fears that the curbs are being downgraded even though the government’s own coronavirus alert system level remains at four – which suggests they should stay in place.
Nicola Sturgeon has stressed she is being more ‘cautious’ and the virus can still ‘run out of control’.
Asked on Sky News whether she thought that the PM was loosening the lockdown in England too quickly, Ms Sturgeon insisted she did not want to ‘criticise other politicians’ and they were all ‘trying to do the right things’.
But she pointedly said that in Scotland they were being ‘very cautious’. ‘This virus has not gone away,’ she said. ‘That is why in Scotland we are moving very slowly.’
She also today accused England of under-reporting care home deaths as she swiped at Mr Johnson for easing lockdown too early.
The Scottish First Minister said the apparent higher proportion of victims in care homes north of the border was due to the way they are recorded.
She insisted that people who died of stroke and ‘happened’ to have coronavirus were counted in the numbers in Scotland – whereas they were not in England, meaning that there was ‘under-reporting’.
Mr Raab also played down criticism that the curbs are being downgraded despite the government’s own coronavirus alert system level remaining at four – which suggests they should stay in place
Meanwhile, families across England will finally be able to see their relatives or friends who have been ‘shielding’ for months.
As part of the easing of lockdown restrictions, 2.2million vulnerable people will be able to go outside with members of their household, while continuing to follow social distancing guidelines.
Those who live alone will be able to meet outside with one other person from another household, in a move that will bring joy to thousands.
Boris Johnson last night hailed the ‘resilience’ of those who have been shielding since March, with many having no face-to-face contact since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Minister said: ‘I want to thank everyone who has followed the shielding guidance – it is because of your patience and sacrifice that thousands of lives have been saved. I do not underestimate just how difficult it has been for you, staying at home for the last ten weeks, and I want to pay tribute to your resilience.’
Some groups of people are considered to be at extremely high risk of severe illness with coronavirus and had been asked to strictly follow shielding measures.
According to NHS Inform, this ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’ group includes people who have specific cancers, are organ transplant recipients, are on immunosuppressant drugs, or have severe chest conditions such as cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD.
Over-70s with no underlying health conditions are vulnerable but have not been told they need to shield by Government guidance.
Mr Johnson spoke after England’s deputy chief medical officer yesterday pleaded with Britons ‘not to tear the pants out of’ the loosened lockdown when more freedoms are granted on Monday.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam warned that abusing new liberties would fuel the spread of infection and said that the lifting of curbs should be treated as if gently lifting the lid on a coiled spring – ‘painstakingly’ slow.
The top scientific adviser said the country was at a ‘very dangerous moment’ in the crisis, as thousands of sun-seekers packed on to beaches to bask in scorching weather.
Official mobility data shows the number of people venturing out to parks has increased far above pre-lockdown levels as people look to socialise in outdoor spaces.
Crowds have flocked to beaches and parks this weekend in defiance of the lockdown rules that remain in place until Monday.
They were tempted by temperatures that soared to 80F (27C) with the country enjoying the sunniest spring since records began and the driest May since 1862.