Tenth patient dies as UK coronavirus cases hit 590
Written by News on 12/03/2020
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has reached 590 – up 134 in the last 24 hours.
Two more patients have died in London hospitals since Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of UK deaths to 10, NHS England said.
The increase of confirmed cases by 134 – 29% – is the largest day-on-day increase since the outbreak began in late December in Wuhan, central China.
The day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the virus a pandemic, Thursday was the first time the day-on-day increase reached three figures in the UK.
A week ago, on 5 March, the total number of cases was 115, making Thursday’s total of 590 more than five times greater than that.
The increase in numbers came as Boris Johnson hosted a COBRA meeting in which he is expected to move the UK from the “contain” stage to the “delay” stage of tackling the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The ninth and tenth person to have died from COVID-19 were both in London and had underlying health issues.
An 89-year-old who was “very unwell with underlying health conditions” died at Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust confirmed.
And a woman in her 60s who had been “very unwell with significant other health conditions” died at Queen’s Hospital in east London, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said.
The announcement of their deaths came as Ireland shut down schools and tourist attractions until the end of the month.
The Republic has had 43 confirmed coronavirus cases and one death, as of Thursday afternoon.
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Taking action against the high number of cases in Europe US president Donald Trump announced a ban on people travelling to the US from 26 European countries – except Ireland and the UK.
He said he excluded the UK from the ban because it is “doing a good job on coronavirus”.
The president added that he could not consult with European officials before implementing the travel ban because he “had to move quickly”.
Italy has been the hardest hit nation outside China, with the entire country placed on lockdown this week as the government tries to control the outbreak which has infected nearly 12,500 people in Italy and killed 827.
The world’s financial markets have also been hit hard, with the FTSE 100 losing more than 10% of its value on Thursday, the biggest intraday fall since the 2008 financial crisis.
Nearly £150 billion was wiped off London’s top index as concern over the global spread of coronavirus heightened.
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(c) Sky News 2020: Tenth patient dies as UK coronavirus cases hit 590
