COVID-19 rise 596 in UK – almost a third down on yesterday: Lowest daily increase in victims for almost two weeks but cases are up slightly at 5,850, as government adviser says many parts of the country have past the peak of the ‘first wave’

COVID-19 rise 596 in UK – almost a third down on yesterday: Lowest daily increase in victims for almost two weeks but cases are up slightly at 5,850, as government adviser says many parts of the country have past the peak of the ‘first wave’
The increase, which brings the total number of fatalities to 16,060, suggests that the lockdown is helping
But the drop in the death rate jarred with a climb in cases of 5,850 to 120,067 – the third highest jump
Attention in Whitehall has turned to fleshing out an exit strategy from the lockdown to fire up the economy
One of scientists advising Downing Street today cautioned against relaxing the lockdown prematurely
A further 596 coronavirus deaths have today been announced in the UK, marking the lowest daily rise for two weeks.

The number of fatalities climbed to 16,060 as Britons were told many parts of the country were past the peak of the epidemic.

But the glimmer of good news jarred with the third highest jump of cases to date as 5,850 people tested positive, bringing overall infections to 120,067.

Yesterday, 21,626 tests were carried out, up from 21,389 the day before, as ministers urgently try to hit their 100,000 target by the end of the month.

Attention in Whitehall has also turned to fleshing out an exit strategy from the lockdown to fire up the flagging economy.

Government officials are understood to have conjured up a three-step blueprint to ease restrictions, which starts with reopening schools as early as May 11.

Yet one of the scientists advising Downing Street today cautioned that relaxing the lockdown prematurely could see another wave of the disease in the future.

Sir Jeremy Farrah, director of the Wellcome Trust, believes much of he nation is over the worst, but warned of a ‘rebound’ if social distancing stops while infection rates are still high.

He was also optimistic that a vaccine could be developed, and even said one could be found by the end of the year.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove this morning tried to downplay speculation of a route out of shutdown despite coming under mounting pressure from political rivals to publish a ‘road map’ for the way ahead.

On another frantic day with tensions rising in the coronavirus battle:

The government was accused by Labour of ‘treating the public like children’ by refusing to spell out how the exit strategy from lockdown might look, with leader Keir Starmer demanding a ‘road map’ out of the crisis;
Michael Gove has defended Boris Johnson for skipping five Cobra crisis meetings in the weeks leading up to Britain’s outbreak – but admitted the UK did send a shipment of desperately-needed personal protective gear to China. He stressed the Asian superpower had since sent back far more than it received;
OECD chief Angel Gurria warned there will have to be ‘stop-go’ arrangements in place for ‘social distancing’ for a long time to come, urging governments to ‘err on the side of caution’ to avoid the worst possible outcomes for economies;
The Irish health minister has suggested pubs might not be able to open until there is a coronavirus vaccine, which some believe will take more than a year;
Infectious diseases expert Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s own SAGE advisory group, has cautioned that the lockdown ‘cannot go on much longer’ as it is ‘damaging all our lives’ and could start to be eased within three or four weeks;
A consignment of PPE, including desperately-needed gowns, that Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick boasted would arrive today from Turkey is reported to have been delayed;
The chairman of the British Medical Association council said it had warned the government ‘weeks ago’ about the risk of personal protective equipment shortages but hit a ‘brick wall’;
One of the scientists leading efforts to make the breakthrough warned it is not ‘completely certain’ that a coronavirus vaccine can be produced, with Mr Gove admitting no-one should see it as a ‘dead cert’; This afternoon’s flattened death rate was the lowest daily rise of cases since April 6, when 439 people lost their lives.

However, experts cautioned against excess optimism and pointed out Sunday usually sees smaller increases because of a reporting lag over the weekend.

Today’s figures were released by the Department of Health after individual tallies were published by the four nations – whose numbers slightly differ owing to varying time-frames.

England announced a further 482 people lost their lives, the youngest of which was 34 and the eldest who was 104, both with underlying health conditions.

Six patients, aged between 52 and 92, had no underlying health problems. Of all the regions in England, the Midlands suffered the brunt of the deaths, recording 92.

The North East and Yorkshire recorded 83 deaths, the North West also 83, London reported 82, the East of England 66, the South East 54 and the South West 22.

Public Health Wales announced another 41 deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities to 575.

There have been a total of 7,270 confirmed cases in Wales, a rise of 334, while 25,170 tests have been carried out on 21,717 individuals, officials said.

A total of 903 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland have died, a rise of 10 on Saturday’s figure, according to the Scottish Government.

Across the nation, 39,612 people have now been tested for Covid-19, with 8,187 testing positive. As of Saturday night, 1,797 patients were in hospital with either confirmed or suspected coronavirus, an increase of four.

Of those, 174 were being treated in intensive care units, down eight from the previous tally.

One person in Northern Ireland died with coronavirus in the past day, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 194.Sir Jeremy, a government scientific adviser, today offered encouraging news to Britons in lockdown as he said the country is over the peak – yet warned of future waves if social distancing falls by the wayside.

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge: ‘I think the probability and what we must be planning for is that there will be further waves of this in the future but for this first wave I think the number of new infections stabilised about a week or two ago and the number of hospitalisations maybe a week or so ago and yes, tragically, there are still far too many people dying but the number of people dying in this country and actually in many countries in the world, is now either stabilising or starting to come down.

That is good news, we are probably just past the peak in many parts of this country as is true in many parts of the world and we’ll come off that and numbers will reduce but that has only happened because of the public’s respect for and following the advice around the social distancing and lockdowns.

‘If we were to release those lockdowns too soon, whilst the infection rates are still high and there are still people in the community who have got infected, then the epidemic will come back again, it will come back very quickly.

‘It would rebound within a few weeks or a couple of months so it is critical that people are – and they are, the public is really respecting the advice and it is that which has led to the change in numbers.

‘These things don’t happen by chance, they happen because of what we’re all doing and the public deserves great thanks and respect for that.’

The death toll climbed as the conversation turned to the country’s exit from lockdown, with schools mooted to return within three weeks under a ‘traffic light’ plan being pushed by senior ministers to ease lockdown misery – amid Cabinet splits over whether the government should risk more deaths from the disease to save the plunging economy. The fledgling ‘exit strategy’ would see the country get back up in running in stages after May 11, with primary, GCSE pupils, and nurseries potentially going back part-time.

Meanwhile, clothes shops and garden centres could be among the ‘non-essential’ stores given a ‘green light’ to reopen with precautions to protect customers. Rail services would be brought up to normal levels, with commuters probably urged to wear facemasks, and the NHS would resume carrying out non-urgent procedures.

A second ‘amber’ stage later in the summer would see more of the economy revived, with all employees told to go back to work and some social gatherings allowed.

However, it might not be until later in the year that pubs and restaurants can reopen and sporting events get up and running. And over-70s face a ‘red light’ for many months more, potentially having to wait for a vaccine before going back to normal life.

The proposals are gaining traction amid a mounting backlash at the lack of a clear plan. Senior ministers are divided between those who want to ‘run hot’, using apparent spare capacity in the NHS to relax social distancing soon, and those who fear acting too early will allow the disease to run rampant, according to the Sunday Times.

After concerns about drift at the heart of power, Boris Johnson is gearing up to take back the reins of government, making calls to ministers from Chequers where he is recuperating from his own health scare with the disease.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove tried to dampen down frenzied speculation over loosening of restrictions this morning, saying while it was ‘entirely understandable’ people want to know the way out it was too early to make such decisions.

Asked if the ‘traffic light’ system was the government’s ‘exit strategy’, Mr Gove told Sky News: ‘No it’s not. It is the case that we are looking at all the evidence. But we have set some tests that must be passed before we can even think about easing the lockdown.’

Although he stressed no decisions had been taken, Mr Gove did hint at the shape of an easing, suggesting pubs and other parts of the hospitality industry will be ‘among the last’ to come back.