Coronavirus: Another 180 people die after testing positive in UK, taking total to 1,415
Written by News on 30/03/2020
Another 180 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 1,415.
The number, which was down from the previous day’s 207, counts those who died in the 24 hours up to 5pm on Sunday.
In England, 159 people have died after contracting the virus, taking the total to 1,284.
A further six people have died in Scotland, taking the total to 47, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
In Wales, the number of people who have died is 62, a rise of 14, health officials said.
And the number of people who have died in Northern Ireland has risen by one to 22, with the total number of cases at 533.
Across Scotland, 1,563 people have tested positive for the virus as of 9am on Monday, up 179 from 1,384 on Sunday.
Ms Sturgeon added that the Scottish Events Campus (SEC) will be turned into a field hospital and cancer screening programmes will be paused to help the NHS respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said the actual number of cases in the country is now estimated at more than 100,000.
The total number of confirmed cases in Wales has risen to 1,451 after 210 new cases were confirmed on Monday.
Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the COVID-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said “the true number of cases is likely to be higher.”
Northern Ireland’s new regulations to enforce social distancing include fines of up to £5,000 for those failing to follow laws aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed on Sunday the UK had reached 10,000 tests a day, which he added was ahead of schedule as the government works towards conducting 25,000 tests a day.
He announced on Monday that 750,000 people have signed up to be an NHS volunteer in the UK.
Health minister Helen Whately defended the UK’s coronavirus testing regime following growing calls for the country to hugely expand its programme.
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She told Sky News the country is “right at the top of the league table” for COVID-19 testing – despite admitting countries such as South Korea and Germany have conducted a much greater number of tests.
The World Health Organisation has previously called on national governments to “test, test, test” as the “backbone” of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The WHO figures show the increase in new infections worldwide is now around 70,000 per day – up from about 50,000 just days ago. More than 32,000 people have died worldwide.
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(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Another 180 people die after testing positive in UK, taking total to 1,415
