England’s coronavirus hospital death toll sees smallest rise since March
England’s coronavirus hospital death toll rose 204 to 21,384 today, the lowest daily increase since late March.
NHS England said that three of the 204 patients who died from coronavirus had no underlying health conditions.
The UK has recorded 187,842 confirmed cases and 28,446 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain had past the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and was “on the downward slope”.
Earlier today, Londons NHS Nightingale Hospital was put “on standby”, with no new coronavirus patients expected. The PM’s spokesman said the makeshift hospital was being mothballed due to limited demand.
The hospital was built to handle up to 4,000 Covid-19 patients, however fewer than 20 patients are currently being treated there.
However, the head of the European Union agency for disease control today said Britain was one of five European countries who had not yet reached the peak of the otubreak.
Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said Bulgaria is still recording an increase in cases. While there had been “no substantial changes in the last 14 days” in Britain, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
There was a drop in cases in all other European countries. “As of Saturday, it appears that the initial wave of transmission (in Europe) passed its peak,” she added.
Italy has begun relaxing its coronavirus lockdown measures. It has been the worst hit European country with 210,717 confirmed cases and 28,884 deaths.
From today, people will be allowed to move around their own regions, but face masks are required on all public transport.
France has also set out plans for a phased ending of its lockdown beginning next week. Regions will be labelled red or green on Thursday for the proposed easing of restrictions four days later. The decision will be based on the number of new cases, as well as capacity in hospitals and for testing.