UK announces 21 more coronavirus deaths as total number of victims rises to 42,653
- The Department of Health will publish a figure with care home deaths later today
- Scotland has recorded zero new deaths on six separate occasions this month
- Northern Ireland has hit the milestone 11 times in June, government data shows
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Another 21 deaths from the coronavirus have been announced in the UK today, taking the total death toll to 42,653.
NHS England confirmed 20 people died in its hospitals between May 18 and June 21, and one more death was confirmed by officials in Wales.
Scotland has now recorded zero deaths on six occasions in June, while Northern Ireland has had no deaths on 11 separate days, with three in a row up to today.
Hospitals in the East of England did not add any victims to their count today, with the Midlands accounting for the most (seven) and the South West and London recording one each.
Although the number of deaths is always lower on Sundays and Mondays, because of weekend delays to records, experts are convinced the virus is fading in the UK.
One predicted last month that deaths were on track to hit zero by July, while a study published today suggested daily new cases could fall to nought within three weeks.
The Department of Health will publish a more detailed, higher, figure for deaths later this afternoon, as well as testing data.
NHS England’s statistics today added seven more deaths in the Midlands to the records, along with four each in the North West and the North East and Yorkshire, three in the South East, and one each in London and the South West.
The people who died in England’s hospitals were aged between 55 and 98.
Public Health Wales confirmed one more fatality, undated, taking its total to 1,478.
Care home deaths from England will be added to the overall total in a Department of Health announcement later.
As the UK’s coronavirus outbreak continues to fade, with some researchers predicting the numbers of deaths and positive tests will drop to zero in July, the rest of the world continues to battle the fast-spreading virus.
The World Health Organization confirmed yesterday was the worst day of the pandemic so far on the global stage.
Its statistics revealed 183,020 Covid-19 infections were recorded on Sunday, June 21 – topping the previous high of 181,000 on Thursday, June 18.
Nearly a third of those occurred in Brazil (54,771) followed by the US (36,617) and India (15,413) – taking the overall number of infections past 8.7million.
More than 460,000 deaths have been recorded.
But the actual number of Covid-19 cases since the virus was first spotted in China in December will be drastically higher because of a lack of mass testing and the large proportion of asymptomatic cases – people who don’t know they are ill.
Despite clear progress in containing the virus in some regions, especially those that saw early outbreaks, globally the number of new cases has soared in recent days. Hospitals are scrambling to cope in Brazil, Iraq and India.