UK announces seven more coronavirus deaths in early count with no further fatalities in Scotland or Wales
- NHS England said six people died in its hospitals between July 29 and August 9
- Northern Ireland’s government confirmed one more death over the weekend
- Now fewer than 60 deaths per day, on average – the lowest for four months
A further seven deaths from the coronavirus have been confirmed in Britain today, with six in English hospitals and one in Northern Ireland.
The preliminary count, which will be updated by the Department of Health later this afternoon, takes the total so far to 46,581.
The number of new confirmed cases will also be confirmed this afternoon. Scotland diagnosed a further 29 people yesterday, along with 12 new cases in Wales.
Today’s data comes amid concerns the virus is starting to spread out of control again after 1,062 people were diagnosed yesterday – the first time since June 25 that the daily rise was more than 1,000.
And ministers are reportedly considering doing away with the daily death updates after a Public Health England fiasco that saw them getting exaggerated each day because people dying of other causes were being included.
NHS England today confirmed six more people died in its hospitals between July 29 and August 9.
Two of those were in the North East and Yorkshire region, with the other four all dying in the East of England.
And Northern Ireland’s government confirmed another death had been confirmed there over the weekend.
Today marks the 25th day in a row that no more deaths have been confirmed in Scotland.
While the number of people dying of Covid-19 in Britain is now very low and continuing to fall, concerns have turned to the number of cases being diagnosed each day.
Yesterday, Sunday, the daily count tipped above 1,000 for the first time in around six weeks when 1,062 people received a positive test result.
The country had not seen an increase so large since June 25, when 1,118 cases were reported in a single day.
The numbers come almost exactly a fortnight after Boris Johnson predicted a second wave in two weeks.
On July 28, a senior government source said the Prime Minister was ‘extremely concerned’ by outbreaks ‘bubbling up’, both at home and abroad.