UK’s coronavirus death toll jumps by 801 to almost 13,000

Britain’s coronavirus death toll today jumped by 801, taking the total numbers of victims to almost 13,000.  

The Department of Health has yet to announce the official daily tally from all four of the home nations. 

NHS England announced 651 more COVID-19 deaths, including a 20-year-old who had no known underlying health condition. 

Scotland said 84 more people have died there, Wales 60 and Northern Ireland six – a total of 150, meaning the true number for Britain is at least 12,958.

But because the four governments all record their own data at different times these daily statistics do not line up – and the DH tally is slightly lower. 

The figures come amid fears the true size of Britain’s coronavirus death toll is 50 per cent higher than official figures show. 

In other developments to the UK’s coronavirus crisis today:

• Care homes were ordered to allow grieving relatives a last chance to say goodbye to loved-ones before they die from coronavirus amid shocking reports of elderly victims dying alone;
• Ministers were under huge pressure to come up with an ‘exit strategy’ from coronavirus lockdown after the scale of the looming economic meltdown became clear;
• World War II hero Captain Tom Moore, 99, has raised more than £6million for the ‘brave nurses and doctors’ of the NHS by marching around his garden on a zimmer frame;
• Oxford University scientists announced trials of a coronavirus vaccine would begin on humans next week, after they claimed they were confident a jab would be ready for millions to use by the autumn; 
• Chinese leaders reportedly covered up the coronavirus crisis for six days, as it was claimed Beijing knew it was likely dealing with a major health crisis on January 14 but President Xi only warned the public on January 20;
• The US and Europe could be hit by up to four waves of coronavirus if it is allowed to ravage Africa, a WHO expert warned as he said the virus is ‘about to march through the continent and India like an avalanche’; 
• The pandemic has now infected more than two million people around the world, the latest figures revealed today – but experts believe that the true figure is much higher with many people never tested because their symptoms are mild.