Britain today announced 77 more coronavirus deaths, taking the official death toll to 36,870 as sun-worshippers descended on parks and beaches today amid an expected 79F heatwave.
NHS England recorded 59 Covid-19 fatalities in hospitals. While Scotland declared three deaths in all settings, Wales seven and Northern Ireland eight.
Department of Health bosses, who release the official daily toll every afternoon, have yet to confirm today’s final figure, which includes victims from all settings such as care homes.
The preliminary tally – often much lower than the final count – is calculated by adding up all of the individual tallies of each of the home nations.
Only 118 Covid-19 deaths were announced yesterday by officials, marking the lowest daily figure since lockdown was enforced on March 23. For comparison, the final figure announced last Monday was 160.
But death numbers released on Sundays and Mondays are usually smaller due to a delay in processing fatalities over the weekend.
In other developments to Britain’s coronavirus crisis today:
- Dominic Cummings will make a public statement to address claims he broke lockdown rules by travelling to Durham amid growing calls for him to be sacked;
- Britons descended on parks and beaches amid an expected 79F heatwave as they declared, ‘If Dominic Cummings can break the rules, we can too’;
- An NHS hospital in the Somerset seaside hotspot of Weston-super-Mare was forced to stop taking new patients due to a high number of coronavirus cases;
- Newsreader Simon McCoy slammed his BBC colleague Gary Lineker for abusing his position after the Match of the Day host accused the Prime Minister of lying;
- Schools face a long journey before they are able to return to normal, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said as he insisted classes must restart on June 1.
It comes as Dominic Cummings will this afternoon make a public statement to directly address claims he broke lockdown rules by travelling to Durham, Downing Street confirmed.
Mr Cummings is expected to take questions about his conduct which has plunged the government into a state of crisis and has prompted calls for a formal investigation.
The intervention came after one of the government’s scientific advisers warned the ‘debacle’ over the lockdown journey had ‘fatally undermined’ the nation’s fight against coronavirus.
Professor Stephen Reicher, who is a member of the Government’s advisory group on behavioural science which feeds into SAGE, said the result of ‘undermining adherence to the rules’ will be that ‘more people are going to die’.
Mr Johnson is facing a furious backlash from ministers, Tory MPs and even bishops after he yesterday attempted to mount an extraordinary defence of Mr Cummings, staking his reputation on trying to protect his aide.
At a dramatic Downing Street press conference last night, the PM claimed Mr Cummings had acted ‘responsibly, legally and with integrity’ while making a controversial 260-mile trip from London to Durham during lockdown.
Mr Johnson insisted Mr Cummings had ‘followed the instincts of every father’ by driving to his parents’ farm after his wife developed symptoms of coronavirus. The PM’s defence of his aide prompted fury among Britons.
Sun-worshippers descended on parks and beaches today for the Bank Holiday amid an expected 79F heatwave, which could see parts of the country basked in temperatures hotter than Athens, Nice and Barcelona.
Crowds formed outside the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park, as beaches in Sussex, Essex and Dorset quickly filled up with visitors looking to enjoy the dry and sunny conditions forecast to last the whole day.
People in England are now allowed to travel for day trips but must stay at least six feet away from people who are not from their household, something that could be impossible in crowded areas.
In other developments today, an NHS hospital in the Somerset seaside hotspot of Weston-super-Mare was forced to stop taking new patients due to ‘a high number’ of coronavirus cases.
Weston General Hospital dramatically announced this morning it could not take any more admissions, including into A&E.
Health chiefs do not know why the hospital has had an influx of Covid-19 cases, with bosses warning all hospitals have ‘frequent’ changes in admissions.
But questions were today asked over whether the blame may lie on crowds who have flocked to the town to enjoy the sun since lockdown was slightly eased.
Thousands of people travelled to the South West and other coastal areas as soon as the government allowed nationwide travel again on May 13.
Weston-super-Mare’s mayor even admitted ‘you can’t rule it out’, when questioned if scores of Britons on the beach were to blame for the surge in cases.
It is not the first time hospitals have been overwhelmed amid the coronavirus crisis, which began to spiral out of control in mid-March.
One NHS hospital in London was forced to declare a ‘critical incident’ early on in the crisis, after running out of intensive care beds.
Other hospitals in the capital have allegedly had to turn away coronavirus patients because they were running out of beds, according to staff.