UK's official coronavirus death toll rises by 210 to 32,065
11 May 2020, 19:33
A further 210 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, according to official government figures announced by Boris Johnson on Monday.
The prime minister confirmed 32,065 people have so far died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community combined after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Sunday.
This is an increase of 210 from the 31,855 fatalities recorded the previous day.
As of Monday, there have been 1,921,770 tests carried out in the UK, including 100,490 performed on Sunday - higher than the government's 100,000 target and the first time it has been surpassed in more than eight days.
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However, the number of deaths involving Covid-19 that have been registered across the UK currently stands at 33,021.
This includes 29,710 deaths that occurred in England and Wales up to 24 April - and which had been registered up to May - according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figures from NHS England show that a further 3,964 hospital patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between 25 April and 10 May - which, together with the total figure of 33,021 registered deaths, suggests the overall death toll for the UK is just under 37,000.
WATCH LIVE: Coronavirus press conference (11 May 2020)
Mr Johnson added that there have been 223,060 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, an increase of 3,877 on yesterday's numbers.
There are also currently 11,401people in hospitals with the virus, which is down from the 11,768 reported the previous day.
Mr Johnson was speaking at the government's daily coronavirus briefing, which was held today at the earlier time of 7pm and included more questions from members of the public, but fewer questions from the media.
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Boris Johnson answers first question from Scott on who you can see in the park:
— Matthew Thompson (@mattuthompson) May 11, 2020
“You can go to the park to exercise on your own, you can go with members of your own household but if you want to meet somebody from outside it’s got to be just one on one but with social distancing.”
The government's new "stay alert" slogan could be seen on the prime minister's lectern.
Meanwhile, he suggested that workers should begin getting in touch with their employers about how and when to get back to work.
When asked about rules regarding seeing friends and family in parks, he said people must only see one person at a time and must maintain social distancing measures.
He also said he cannot be certain "that we won't be living with this virus for a considerable period of time."
Next Q from Simon. What if people can’t get childcare, should they go back to work?
— Matthew Thompson (@mattuthompson) May 11, 2020
PM: “if people don’t have access to childcare then I think it’s only fair to regard that as an obvious barrier to their ability to go back to work, and I’m sure employers would agree with that.”
The chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the risk of catching coronavirus outdoors is considerably less than catching it indoors, hence the relaxing of the open-air rules.
He added there were three categories of businesses, those that are open, those that must remain shut, and those that can open if they respect social distancing.
Mr Johnson later warned there was no guarantee for finding a vaccine, but said he was hopeful one could be found and if not some form of therapeutic treatment could help contain the virus.
Prof Whitty added: “We humans have proved remarkably successful at tackling almost all major infections that we have faced through some means or another.”
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