Coronavirus: UK death toll jumps as cases top 1,300
The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen to 35, Public Health England has said, up from 21 yesterday.
The public health body also said the number of confirmed cases rose 20 per cent to 1,372 as of 9am this morning.
Coronavirus, which emerged in China in December, has now infected at least 156,000 people around the world, killing more than 5,800. The true number of infections is likely to be considerably higher, experts have said.
Britain had tested 40,279 people as of 9am this morning, with 38,907 tests coming back negative.
The rise in the death toll came as the government prepares to tell over-70s to isolate for up to four months as it ramps up its efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Health secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News that the government does not “want to do that too soon because clearly it is not an easy thing to do”, but that it will likely be put in place within the next few weeks.
Mass gatherings are also expected to be banned this week and people told to work from home where possible.
The economic toll of the containment efforts is beginning to mount, leading companies to request assistance from the government.
Airline Virgin Atlantic is preparing to send a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for the government to provide a £7.5bn package to support airlines, Sky News reported.
Carriers have struggled as people cancel travel plans in response to the virus. Yet their position was made much worse by US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban Europeans from travelling to the US.
Trump’s ban did not initially apply to the UK and Ireland, but will from Tuesday morning. The ban sent airline stocks plunging last week and helped the FTSE 100 notch up its biggest one-day fall since 1987’s Black Monday crash.