UK announces 11 more coronavirus deaths in early count as six victims confirmed in English hospitals along with five in Wales
- Preliminary total calculated by adding up fatalities declared by the home nations
- But only include hospital deaths in England so true total may be much higher
- Department of Health bosses will announce official figure later this afternoon
Another 11 coronavirus victims have been confirmed in the UK today, with NHS England announcing six more deaths and Public Health Wales reporting five.
The early count — which only includes hospital deaths in England — is calculated by adding up fatalities declared by each of the home nations.
Department of Health bosses will announce the official figure later today, which is often higher because it takes into account lab-confirmed fatalities in care homes and in the community in England.
Yesterday, for example, there were eight deaths in the preliminary tally, which soared to 102 when virus deaths in all settings in England were included.
It comes after a study published last night threw into question whether a lockdown in the UK actually helped curb the virus’ spread.
Two British experts found that Covid-19 has infected the same number of people in London and Stockholm, despite the Swedish capital controversially choosing not to lock down, scientists say.
Antibody testing – which reveal if someone has previously been infected – show around one in six people in both cities caught the virus during the crisis.
Public Health England surveillance studies estimate that 17.5 per cent of Londoners had caught the virus by late June, based on testing 1,000 people a week.
Sweden has a death rate of 564 people per million population, which is still better than the UK’s 707 per million. Although both epidemics have followed a similar trajectory
Two British experts who compiled the research drew on official antibody testing data from around the world. London and Stockholm had the most amount of positive results, other than New York City
Public Health England surveillance studies estimate that 17.5 per cent of people in London had caught the virus by late June, based on testing 1,000 people a week
And a similar Government programme in Sweden showed that 17 per cent of citydwellers in its capital had been infected by the same time period.
The UK and Sweden tackled the coronavirus epidemic very differently, with Boris Johnson ordering everyone to stay at home and shutting all but essential shops on March 24 for more than three months.
Sweden, on the other hand, only introduced a handful of restrictions, including banning mass gatherings and encouraging people to work and study from home.
The British experts who compiled the research said the finding throws into question whether the the economically-crippling lockdown actually worked in London.
Writing in the study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the researchers say the restrictions in the English capital came too late.