UK coronavirus death toll rises by 324 to 39,369
A further 324 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, bringing the death toll to 39,369, according to figures released today by the Department of Health.
As of 9am this morning, 135,643 tests were carried out or dispatched with 1,613 positive results. However, the number of people tested was unavailable again, according to the Department of Health.
Overall 4.6m tests have been carried out in the UK and 277,985 have been confirmed as positive.
It comes as a Public Health England report revealed UK residents with a black and Asian ethnic minority (BAME) background are up to twice as likely to die from coronavirus.
The report found that Britons with a Bangladeshi ethnicity were twice as likely to die than White Britons from Covid-19, while “people of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and other black ethnicity had between 10 and 50 per cent higher risk of death”.
It came under fire from some campaigners for not including any recommendations on how to combat the disproportionate amount of coronavirus deaths in the UK. Health secretary Matt Hancock addressed MPs after the report was released.
“It is very clear that some people are significantly more vulnerable to Covid-19 and this is something I’m determined to understand in full and take action to address,” he said.
The government also announced today that it is considering a relaxation of its two-week quarantine plan for incoming travellers to the UK. Under current proposals, travellers entering the country after 8 June must self-isolate for 14 days at a fixed location.
The plan has come under fire from the travel industry who have warned measures would halt recovery. However, the government is now reportedly planning on replacing the blanket measures with so-called “air bridges” to low-risk countries by the end of June.
According to the Times, it is likely to put in place when the quarantine measures are first reviewed on 29 June, in time for the school summer holidays.