The death toll in hospitals from coronavirus in the UK rose by 84 in the biggest jump on Monday since June

The UK hospital death toll from coronavirus has risen by 84, the highest rise on a Monday in four and a half months.

England reported 76 deaths, Northern Ireland had six, Scotland had one and Wales had one.

It’s the highest increase on a Monday since 115 deaths on June 1.

By comparison, tolls announced on recent Mondays were 43 on October 12, 10 on October 5, 10 on September 28, and 12 on September 21.

The lowest increase on a Monday was two deaths on August 17, while the largest increase was 697 on April 13, as the UK was at its initial pandemic peak.

The figures were announced as Wales announced a short-circuit lockdown, joining Northern Ireland, while Boris Johnson faced growing calls to impose a similar shutdown on England to slow the spread of the virus and protect the NHS.

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Wales’ two-week “firewall” lockdown will be introduced from 6pm Friday and will last until 9 November, with everyone in Wales “staying home”.

“The only exceptions will be critical workers and jobs where you cannot work from home,” said Prime Minister Mark Drakeford.

University students from Wales will be required to stay in their university accommodation.

Public Health Wales said its death toll rose by one to 1,712 on Monday, with 626 new confirmed cases bringing the total to 36,253.

NHS England announced 76 deaths, bringing the total number of hospital deaths in England to 31,047.

The latest victims were between 47 and 99 years old. All but one, 85, had known underlying health problems.

The death toll from Northern Ireland rose by six to 621.

Meanwhile, Downing Street said that discussions about coronavirus restrictions were also taking place with leaders from the Northeast, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

With Labor demanding a national “circuit breaker” and the Welsh government announcing its own blocking “firewall”, the prime minister’s official spokesman defended the regional approach.

“We keep all of our measures under review, but the prime minister has made it very clear that he does not want a return to something like a national lockdown and believes that our three-tier approach is the right way forward,” the spokesman said.

Projections produced by the government suggested that Manchester hospitals were at risk of being overwhelmed during the second wave of the virus.

“Cases in Greater Manchester continue to increase,” Johnson’s spokesman said.

“In the 60-plus age group, cases have tripled in the last 15 days of full data: There were 89 cases per 100,000 on September 27 compared to 282 per 100,000 on October 12.

“Hospital admissions in Greater Manchester are doubling every nine days.”

Currently, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care is around 40% of that observed at the peak of the first wave.

But, assuming a doubling time of 14 days, the “best case” according to the SPI-M modeling group, all the free intensive care capacity would be used before October 28 and the peak of the first wave would pass on October 2. November.

Projections suggest that Covid patients would occupy all current intensive care capacity by November 8 and all augmentation capacity by November 12.

When asked if that meant hospitals were overwhelmed, the spokesperson said: “Yes, that’s the entire ICU capacity for augmentation.”

The spokesperson also said Level 3 closing talks with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and local leaders were continuing.

“If possible, we want to engage constructively with Greater Manchester and agree on a way forward,” the spokesman said.

But if an agreement cannot be reached, the government will have to intervene “to protect the hospitals and save the lives of the residents.”

In other developments:

– Covid-19 case rates have started to fall in some of England’s largest cities, with the steepest increases now occurring in cities and more suburban areas, the latest figures suggest.

Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, and Newcastle are among the cities where the weekly rate of new Covid-19 cases increased rapidly in late September, coinciding with the start of the new university term, but where levels are now dropping.

Rates have been declining for several days, suggesting that they are in a downtrend rather than a temporary dip.

– New testing trials are underway in England, including in coronavirus hot spots.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “Pilot tests are underway in the worst affected regions, including the North West, North East and Yorkshire.

“Hospitals in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Basingstoke and Southampton will be able to assess asymptomatic NHS staff.”

– A “significant” proportion of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital will still suffer adverse symptoms three months after being sent home, a new study from Oxford University suggested.

Many two to three months after being infected with the new coronavirus feel short of breath, fatigue, anxiety, depression and a limited ability to exercise, research shows.

And MRIs have revealed that many are left with abnormalities in the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys.