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The number of deaths from coronavirus in the UK has risen from 596 to 16,060, the Health Department confirmed today, the lowest daily increase in two weeks.
Midlands saw the highest number of Covid-19 victims, with 92 people confirmed hospital deaths, 10 more than in London.
This afternoon 482 new deaths were confirmed in England, 41 in Wales, 10 in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland.
NHS England said the victims were between 34 and 104 years old.
Six of the deceased, aged 52 to 92, had no known underlying health conditions.
The heartbreaking news comes as the government faces calls to explain itself about the long delays in the early days of the crisis.
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(Image: PA)
Figures released by NHS England show that Midlands has seen the highest number of deaths in 24 hours.
The number of deaths by region is:
- East of England – 66
- London – 82
- Midlands – 92
- North East and Yorkshire – 83
- Northwest – 83
- Southeast – 54
- Southwest – 22
Scientists are desperately struggling to produce a vaccine that can protect against Covid-19, which has killed more than 160,000 people worldwide.
But that could be a long way off, experts warned today.
The news comes after the UK death toll from coronavirus rose to 15,464 yesterday, an increase of 888 victims.
There was more bad news, as a much-needed shipment of PPE equipment emerged for NHS workers, which the government promised yesterday, will not arrive today.
Today Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said he was “optimistic” about the search for a vaccine.
But he said finding a safe and effective treatment for the latest strain “was not a fact.”
(Image: Getty Images)
He told Sophy Ridge of Sky News on Sunday: “I hope we have a vaccine by the end of this year, but that’s a vaccine in a vial, it’s a vaccine that we think is safe, a vaccine that we think could be effective.” .
“I think it is crucial to realize that you have a vaccine in itself, for example in a million doses, that you know is safe and you think it is effective.” That is not the end game.
“The end game makes sure it’s really effective. It is effective in the elderly, effective in young children, effective in the entire age group in all populations.
“And then you have to make it in billions of doses to deliver it to the world.”
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