Seven more coronavirus deaths sees Shropshire toll rise to 50
The number of people to have died at county hospitals with coronavirus is now 50, after a further seven patients were confirmed to have died after catching the virus.
NHS England figures released on Monday show that seven more people have died in the care of Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).
Six of these patients died on Saturday and one died on Sunday.
The UK-wide death toll increased by 717 to 11,329 on Monday.
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In total 48 patients have died at either Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Princess Royal Hospital Telford – both managed by SaTH.
A further two have also died at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry.
Nationally a further 667 were confirmed to have died in England on Monday, along with nine in Scotland and 15 in Wales.
The death tolls in Wales and Scotland are now 384 and 575 respectively.
The figures released each day refer to the number of coronavirus-related deaths confirmed in the previous 24 hours - not the number of people who died in the last 24 hours - and always include patients who died some time earlier but who were yet to be added to statistics due to testing or informing relatives.
The figures only include people to have died in hospital and tested positive for the virus.
Those who have died in the community or care homes are not included and so the total death toll is likely to be far higher.
Of the most recent 667 patients confirmed to have died in England 40 had no known underlying health condition, the youngest of which was aged 37.
'Plan is working'
The figures were released as the Government insisted its plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic “is working” but warned the nationwide lockdown will not be lifted this week.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab showed some cautious optimism as he revealed the latest data suggested the UK was “starting to win this struggle”, three weeks after restrictions were imposed.
But he insisted the virus was not yet past its peak and that it was “far too early” to talk about relaxing the measures, with reports suggesting the lockdown will be extended for at least another three weeks.
Speaking at Monday’s Downing Street press conference, he praised the public for staying at home over the Easter weekend, and added: “Our plan is working.
“Please stick with it, and we’ll get through this crisis together.”
Details of how the lockdown will eventually be lifted remain unclear, however, with the Government repeatedly refusing to outline its “exit strategy”.
Scientists advising the Government are expected to meet this week to review the latest figures, but Mr Raab insisted it was crucial that “we do not take our eye off the ball” with regards to social distancing.
The Government also continues to face pressure over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline NHS staff, as a growing number of health workers died.
According to The Guardian, the UK missed three chances to be part of an EU scheme to bulk buy personal protective equipment for health workers, with European medical staff set to receive the first of £1.3 billion-worth of PPE within days or a maximum of two weeks under the scheme.
Mr Raab is leading the Government as Boris Johnson continues his recovery from the virus at Chequers.
It came as the World Health Organisation said restrictions should be lifted slowly and not “all at once” to avoid a resurgence of the virus, and only if appropriate measures are in place, including “significant” capacity for contact tracing.
