Britain announces Covid-19 victims for Monday

England and Wales today announced four more coronavirus deaths in the preliminary toll, while Scotland and Northern Ireland registered no new victims once again.   

The early count only includes laboratory-confirmed victims in hospitals in England but does take into account deaths from all settings for the rest of the UK. A full round-up of the total number of fatalities — which will encompass all virus victims — will be published by the Department of Health later this afternoon.

NHS England confirmed three more people had died in its hospitals between August 23 and April 3, while one more person had succumbed to the virus in Wales, Public Health Wales said.  

By contrast, six deaths were declared yesterday across Britain and three last Monday. Just nine infected patients are succumbing to the illness every day, on average. 

Data shows only 63 coronavirus fatalities were registered in Britain over the past week — a fraction of the 6,600 recorded during the darkest week of the pandemic between April 7 and 13. Only one of the victims in the past week is known to be under the age of 40.

In other coronavirus developments in Britain today: 

• Pupils are more likely to be hit by a bus on their way to school than catch coronavirus in the classroom, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries claimed;
• Seventeen staff and two pupils have tested positive for coronavirus at a school which has now been shut until at least next week to undergo a deep clean;
• Matt Hancock is said to be planning an astonishing rise in the number of coronavirus tests carried out, with a target of four million per day to get the economy back on track;
• Quarantine travel restrictions could be slashed from 14 days to less than a week under plans to introduce testing on arrival at UK airports.

The most up-to-date government coronavirus death toll — released yesterday afternoon — stood at 41,429. It takes into account victims who have died within 28 days of testing positive.

Ministers earlier this month scrapped the original fatality count because of concerns it was inaccurate due to it not having a time cut-off, meaning no-one could ever technically recover in England.

More than 5,000 deaths were knocked off the original toll. The rolling average number of daily coronavirus deaths dropped drastically — from around 59 to fewer than ten. 

The deaths data does not represent how many Covid-19 patients died within the last 24 hours. It is only how many fatalities have been reported and registered with the authorities.

And the figure does not always match updates provided by the home nations. Department of Health officials work off a different time cut-off, meaning daily updates from Scotland and Northern Ireland are out of sync.

The toll announced by NHS England every day, which only takes into account fatalities in hospitals, doesn’t match up with the DH figures because they work off a different recording system.

For instance, some deaths announced by NHS England bosses will have already been counted by the Department of Health, which records fatalities ‘as soon as they are available’.

Department of Health officials also declare new Covid-19 cases every afternoon. Yesterday they revealed another 1,041 Brits had tested positive for the life-threatening disease.

It means around 1,023 Britons are being diagnosed with the disease each day. For comparison, fewer than 550 cases were being recorded each day, on average, at the start of July.

The spike in cases — alongside a resurgence of the virus in Europe — prompted fears of a second wave. But top experts have insisted the rise is merely down to more testing in badly-hit areas. 

The updated figures come as England’s deputy chief medical officer claimed today that pupils are more likely to be hit by a bus on their way to school than catch coronavirus in the classroom.

Dr Jenny Harries said the risk of children being involved in a traffic accident or of catching the flu are ‘probably higher than the current risk’ posed by the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Nick Gibb this morning insisted parents will be fined if they refuse to send their children back to school next week.

He also said the Government is sticking by its advice to teachers that they do not need to wear masks despite a growing row with unions over staff safety.

Public Health England figures have shown teachers are more likely to be infected than pupils, after one in 23,000 students tested positive during the partial reopening of schools before the summer holidays.

Boris Johnson today issued a plea to parents to send their children back to the classroom when schools reopen in England at the start of September.

In a video posted on Twitter, the Prime Minister said he knew some parents were ‘still a bit worried’ about sending children back to school but he insisted it is ‘vital’ for pupil’s physical and mental health.

He said the risk of children catching the disease is ‘very, very, very small’ and the risk of them suffering badly from it is ‘very, very, very, very, very small indeed’.

Number 10 remains under pressure over its handling of the return of schools. Tory MPs have complained ministers have left it ‘very late’ to persuade parents it is safe.

Mr Johnson’s plea came hours before it was revealed that seventeen staff and two pupils have tested positive for coronavirus at a school which has now been shut until at least next week to undergo a deep clean.

All staff and children at Kingspark School in Dundee, which reopened along with other schools in Scotland on August 12, have been told to self-isolate for two weeks.

NHS Tayside confirmed positive cases among three ‘community contacts’ linked to the cluster at the school, which has about 185 pupils aged between five and 18.

All pupils at the school, which was purpose built in 2009, have additional support needs – with many also having additional physical disabilities or medical problems.

Kingspark School was closed last Wednesday and all parents received a joint letter from the local council and NHS at the end of last week to keep them updated.

In other developments today, Matt Hancock is said to be planning an astonishing rise in the number of coronavirus tests carried out, with a target of four million per day to get the economy back on track.

The Health Secretary is understood to be preparing what has been dubbed ‘Operation Moon Shot’, with the aim of increasing daily tests by around twelve-fold by early next year.

Currently the NHS and private testing centers have a capacity of around 326,000, although because of the current level of infection, only around 190,000 are being carried out.

A massive expansion of the testing regime is seen as a key requirement of easing lockdown measures further as the public continue to be wary of a return to workplaces.

But the scale of the ambition will raise some eyebrows after Mr Hancock’s struggles throughout the pandemic to dramatically up the testing rate.

His test and trace scheme, run by Tory peer Baroness Harding, has also come in for major criticism. Data released last Friday showed the number of close contacts reached had fallen to its lowest ever level.

‘It’s going to take a hell of a lot of work. It is nicknamed Operation Moon Shot because that is what a moon shot is like: it seems very hard but it’s important and we want to land it,’ a source told the Telegraph.