UK coronavirus death toll rises by 377 to 37,837
The UK’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 377 to 37,837, according to figures released today by the Department of Health.
As of 9am this morning, 119,587 tests were carried out or dispatched with 1,887 positive results. However, the number of people tested was unavailable again, according to the Department of Health.
Overall nearly 4m coronavirus tests have been carried out in the UK and 269,127 cases have been confirmed positive.
The UK’s coronavirus test and trace system was launched at 9am this morning, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. Britain abandoned tracing cases in March as community transmission became widespread.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to deliver a “world class” system of testing in the UK, tracking cases and tracing individuals who may be infected by contact with a coronavirus carrier.
The government has recruited 25,000 tracers who will contact people who have come into close contact with confirmed cases and ask them to self-isolate. The tracing app, which has been piloted in the Isle of Wight, is not ready to be deployed nationwide.
Ministers have said compliance will be voluntary at first but fines or sanctions may be introduced if people are not following the guidance.
Johnson said the UK’s track-and-trace system “will be getting steadily better to become a truly world-beating test and trace operation in the course of the next days as we go through June”.
Earlier today, the PM’s adviser Dominic Cummings came under further pressure after Durham Police said he “might have” broken lockdown rules.
Cummings drove from his London home to Durham during the height of the lockdown measures, and has faced calls from Tory MPs to resign.