The UK added 5,850 cases today and now has reported a total of 120,067 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 372,967 people as of 9am this morning (excluding N.I.).
As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 596 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 16,060 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.
Total cases and losses reported are:
England 90,629 / 14,399
Northern Ireland 2,645 / 193
Scotland 8,187 / 893
Wales 7,270 / 575
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)
Rep. Of Ireland have 14,758 cases and 571 losses of life.(not yet reported today).
There have now been 2,373,077 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 163,641. Already 611,810 people have recovered.
Today's UK briefing was with Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary. Wow he was nervous!
He thanked all of the education and childcare staff making sure that vulnerable children are supported and essential workers can go to work. He said he can't give us a date schools will re-open, and reminded us of the 5 points we need to meet before we can lift restrictions:
1. We need to ensure we have NHS bed capacity for everyone who needs it
2. Daily death rates need to come down consistently
3. We need reliable data showing decreasing rate of infection
4. Confidence in testing capacity and PPE availability.
5. Confidence any changes will not risk a second peak.
No-one will have to leave 'care' during the crisis. Young people who would have been making their own way to independence would be particularly vulnerable.
£1.6bn will be given to support phone helplines supporting children and children's safety - the NSPCC's adult phoneline, and possibly Childline? (his wording was weird).
The Govt have published resources for teaching, and some of the leading state schools have collaborated to create The Oak Online Academy, with video lessons for all children from reception through to year 10.
The BBC has developed the most comprehensive education package ever, on TV and online from tomorrow.
Laptops will be given to young people who are disadvantaged and have exams next year. Laptops or tablets will also be given to children with social workers and care leavers. They will also be given free 4G routers if they do not have internet connection while the schools are shut.
Certain educational resources will be exempt from data charges.
He apologised to all of the young people who are missing their education. He doesn't strike me as a natural childcarer.
Dr Jenny Harries, Deputy Chief Medical Officer went through the slides. Travel is stable, it's barely changed. Confirmed cases are still stable, but it is showing we have quite a lot of essential NHS workers testing positive.
Hospital admissions in London are down 20% from 10 days ago.
18,118 in hospital throughout the UK, just up from yesterday
We are still following Italy's trajectory by the hospital only data.
Press asked why we hadn't kept up pandemic stocks of PPE, and why we hadn't bought PPE earlier when we knew COVID-19 was on the way. Jenny Harries claimed we were exemplary in the fact we had any pandemic supplies, and then talked about acknowledged challenges and how well we've done. Press replied that businesses are on social media saying they are offering PPE and it's not being accepted. Gavin said get those names to us and we'll chase them up within 24 hours.
Jenny Harries was asked if the mortality rates are the same across the country, and is that affecting 'best practise'. She said it's very hard to measure, but the ICNARC (intensive care) data will be what they look at to try and spot any specific factors which raise risk. It is looking like obesity is a factor for example (this is in line with other countries and not a surprise).
She answered questions on whether we regretted not testing more. '"We had and still have a plan" and once you have lots of cases you have to focus on patient care.'
Jenny Harries again mentioned that we won't get a full picture for 12 or 20 months, when we can look at 'all cause mortality' and see how many extra people were lost above expectations. Comparing to other countries can't really be considered accurate, and be careful when making comparisons. Social factors and public health interventions are important. Italy for example has more families living together and an older population.
We were reminded that the UK is heading in the right direction, but to stop now would mean a second peak in a few weeks time, and even longer restrictions.
Our delivery of PPE from Turkey is delayed, expected tomorrow.
The number of people in intensive care in France, has dropped every day for 10 days. This is the sort of milestone we like.
Pakistan has lifted restrictions on congregational prayers at mosques ahead of Ramadan. Visitors must wear masks and remain more than 6ft apart. It is still risky, religious buildings have proven ideal places to spread COVID-19.
Vitamin D is being touted not only as a useful vitamin for your body when fighting against COVID-19, but possibly also a reason why darker skinned people, especially in duller climates, may be more susceptible. Vitamin D is free from sunlight. Get out in the sun safely for 20 minutes in a t-shirt to have your daily dose. Research is obviously ongoing.
The UAE has a fine of $5,500 for spreading coronavirus misinformation
Freezing coronavirus usually preserves it. In a year's time, after you delve to the bottom of the freezer, you will still have to wash your hands.
A plane carrying about 10 million face masks and other vital PPE has arrived in Scotland from China.
Singapore may be in trouble. For such a massive transport hub, they have managed to control COVID-19 well so far, but have a rise in numbers and today reported 942 new cases.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said he will seek to continue the state of emergency in Spain until 9th May, with relaxations to allow children some outdoor time from 27 April. (Our lockdown is nothing compared to theirs.)
The Sunday Times has a massive, and incredibly well written and researched, article which is the subject of all the news today. It criticises the UK Government and especially Boris Johnson for failing to react swiftly to the coronavirus and skipping COBRA meetings on 5 consecutive occasions. I'm not allowed to show party politics, and I will always maintain we can never really know what any other government would have done.
That said, I am just a Mum who worked in adult education and has an interest in science, I'm not an epidemiologist, pandemic specialist or government strategist. I first wrote about COVID-19 on January 30th, I had been telling people about the coming threat for weeks beforehand. Even though I felt like a conspiracy theorist, I bought 9 extra toilet rolls and some paracetamol in January. If I could see it, the experts should certainly have seen it.
One of the criticisms in the article is that we sent PPE to China when we should have been stockpiling. This is true, however now that they have surplus they have sent us many times as much when we really need it. So we all benefit.
Material scientist and engineer Peter Tsai, the guy who invented the N95 masks which have proven invaluable in the fight against COVID-19, has come out of retirement to try and find a way to make them reusable.
Lost Their Fight:
Nurse Michael Allieu
Midwife Linda Clarke
Ex-Waterboys bassist and musician Matthew Seligman
Auxiliary Nurse Margaret Tapley
In the last 3 weeks, 90% of rough sleepers in the UK have been offered accommodation thanks to councils, charities and volunteers.
Turkey have Maskamatic vending machines at Metro stations. Passengers can obtain 4 face masks and 100ml of disinfectant free of charge each week by buying a ticket and then inserting their card in the machine.
South Carolina is reopening the beaches (and we aren't even half way through this disaster movie plot.)
The Royal Mint is making 5,000 visors a day for the NHS.
Prime Minister Henry Puna has declared The Cook Islands COVID-19 free. Schools open on Monday, domestic travel restrictions are lifted, non-contact sport resumes, cafes and restaurants can open and they'll review restrictions on alcohol.
Well done guys, and may it stay that way.
Some people. I don't have the space here for all of their names:
USA 741,230 (+2,438) 39,103 (+89)
Spain 195,944 (+1,528) 20,453 (+410)
Italy 178,972 (+3,047) 23,660 (+433)
France 152,578 (+785) 19,718 (+395)
Germany 144,348 (+624) 4,547 (+9)
UK 120,067 (+5,850) 16,060 (+596)
Turkey 86,306 (+3,977) 2,017 (+127)
China 82,735 (+16) 4,632
Iran 82,211 (+1,343) 5,118 (+87)
Russia 42,853 (+6,060) 361 (+48)
Belgium 38,496 (+1,313) 5,683 (+230)
Brazil 36,925 (+203) 2,372 (+11)
Canada 33,951 (+568) 1,509 (+39)
Netherlands 32,655 (+1,066) 3,684 (+83)
Switzerland 27,740 (+336) 1,381 (+13)
Australia 6,612 (+26) 71 (+1)
Singapore 6,588 (+596) 11
Indonesia 6,575 (+327) 582 (+47)
Serbia 6,318 (+324) 122 (+5)
Philippines 6,259 (+172) 409 (+12)
Ukraine 5,449 (+343) 141 (+8)
Qatar 5,448 (+440) 8
Morocco 2,820 (+135) 138 (+1)
Thailand 2,765 (+32) 47
Algeria 2,629 (+95) 375 (+8)
Moldova 2,472 (+121) 67 (+10)
Bangladesh 2,456 (+312) 91 (+7)
Sources:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/cook-islands-become-one-first-nations-in-world-declare-itself-covid-19-free
https://m.jpost.com/International/Inventor-of-N95-masks-comes-out-of-retirement-to-upgrade-them-625083
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/izmirs-maskamatic-machines-to-distribute-free-masks-to-metro-riders/news
https://twitter.com/markoftheD/status/1251845838617350146?s=20
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/cook-islands-become-one-first-nations-in-world-declare-itself-covid-19-free
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-delivery-of-84-tonnes-of-protective-equipment-for-nhs-delayed-11975429
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-spain-seeks-to-extend-lockdown-but-will-ease-restrictions-for-children-11975448
https://news.yahoo.com/france-reports-642-more-coronavirus-deaths-total-toll-181236256.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/coronavirus-38-days-when-britain-sleepwalked-into-disaster-hq3b9tlgh
https://thehill.com/policy/international/493482-uae-to-issue-5500-fines-for-sharing-unauthorized-coronavirus-info
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/414582/pakistan-eases-covid-19-mosque-restrictions-a-week-before-ramadan
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1251880732982558722
https://twitter.com/RobertJenrick/status/1251828247538667522
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493501-south-carolina-to-reopen-public-beaches-retail-stores-next-week-amid
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Well done The Cook islands. We can only hope we follow them one day. The stats make for some nightmare reading don't they. Stay well and here's hoping people stay home xx
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