Related Articles
Britain’s coronavirus hospital death toll has increased by eight – the lowest rise on a Thursday since the UK went into lockdown in late March.
England reported five new deaths and Wales announced three.
Both Northern Ireland and Scotland last reported a coronavirus death three weeks ago.
The death tolls announced on recent Thursdays were 14 on July 30, 19 on July 23, 20 on July 16 and 24 on July 9.
The highest total on a Thursday was 891 on April 9 when the UK was in the deadliest days of its outbreak.
The latest figures came amid fresh signs of a second wave of Covid-19 in Europe and a growing outbreak in Aberdeen that is expected to get worse.
NHS England reported five new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities in hospitals in England to 29,376. The patients were aged between 45 and 86, and all had known underlying health conditions.
Nineteen workers at a Royal Mail delivery office in Manchester have tested positive for coronavirus, the Communication Workers Union said. The officer was undergoing a deep clean.
Public Health Wales said a further three people have died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths in the country to 1,571. The number of cases in Wales increased by 15, bringing the total number confirmed to 17,389.
There have been no coronavirus deaths in Scotland for three weeks in a row, said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, although the country’s R rate could now be as high as one amid an outbreak in Aberdeen.
A total of 2,491 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19.
Ms Sturgeon said 18,847 people have tested positive for the virus, up by 67 from the day before.
The number of cases linked to an outbreak in Aberdeen, which led to a local lockdown, has risen by 25 in the past day, said Ms Sturgeon.
She said 79 confirmed cases have now been identified and a further 30 are under investigation as being potentially connected to the 32 venues announced by the Scottish Government as possibly linked to the outbreak.
Video Unavailable
A total of 233 contacts have been traced, and Ms Sturgeon warned she expects a further rise in infection numbers on Friday.
Forty-three more positive cases of coronavirus have been detected in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said. The total number of people who have been infected is now 6,049.
No new deaths were recorded, leaving the total in the region at 556, according to official figures.
Meanwhile, an Imperial College London study of 15,000 volunteers shows the spread of Covid-19 slowed in June and early July.
“As the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England transitioned out of its initial lockdown phase, prevalence of swab-positivity continued to decrease,” the so called Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission study found.
The study, which will be peer-reviewed before a final report is published, also found that risk of infection was higher in London than in other areas of England.
It found there was an increased risk of infection among those with Black and Asian (mainly South Asian) ethnicities.
In other developments:
– Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for an inquiry into the Government’s purchase of 50 million face masks, as part of a £252 million contract, that cannot be used in the NHS.
– Home-schooling must be significantly improved if schools are forced to close amid local lockdowns as many parents can no longer take on the teaching role, campaigners say.
– Local health protection teams continue to be more successful than call centre workers at reaching close contacts of people who have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the latest data.
– People with mild coronavirus symptoms in the North West are being encouraged to participate in a trial which aims to see whether dogs can sniff out Covid-19. Testing has begun to see whether medical detection dogs can also be trained to smell the disease.
