NURSING STAFF SING FAREWELLS AT PASSING OF A 'LOVELY, CHEERFUL, EVER-SMILING' MAN

DEDICATED nursing staff paid an Atherstone "legend" dying from coronavirus the ulimate compliment in his final moments as they sang him on his journey into the next life.

Relatives unable to be at the bedside of Brian 'Cunner' Cadman through Government restrictions today praised the staff of the George Eliot hospital for their "care and love" as they lifted their voices while he passed away.

His son, Wayne, posted he was "blessed" to speak to his father on the phone a few days before he died.

Tributes have poured in across social media for a "lovely, cheerful, ever-smiling" horse racing fan who was in his mid-70s when he succumbed to Covid-19.

Carolyn Randle said: "So sad, another Atherstone legend" – the second well-known town figure within a week to lose their life to the virus, the first being 64-year-old weekend wedding photographer and retired 3M worker Roy Allitt.

Andrew Richards added: "RIP. Special people are taken first . . . a lovely man."

Relative Amanda Hall posted on Atherstone People's Forum: "Heaven has gained another angel, the most loving husband and dad, grandad and uncle – a true gentleman.

"He was the head of the family and will be a massive loss to us all. We love you very much."

"And as a family we are so very grateful to all the staff at the George Eliot hospital for all of their care and love and when we couldn't be there in his last minutes, even singing to him as he passed away."

Tributes came from townsfolk who knew him in his "pit days" – and even as a young army cadet.

Mr Cadman was one of 861 people whose death in hospital has been recorded in the last 24 hours in the UK – with the grim total now standing at 13,729. The number of confirmed cases will pass the 100,000 mark today, currently being 98,476.

Ministers will today signal an extension of lockdown restrictions by at least three weeks at least – even though cases are thought to have "peaked two weeks ago", according to Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson.

He confirmed it is too early to relax the measures and a significant level of social distancing is likely to remain in the UK until a vaccine is available.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead emergency Cobra and cabinet meetings about continuing social distancing.

In spite of the positive signs that ministers could soon be given permission to start planning the UK's exit from lockdown as officials gather information on how the virus is spread, there was a note of caution from the World Health Organisation.

The UK was among a handful of countries singled out by the organisation for having "tempered" the "positive signs" that Europe is passing the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said that while there have been "optimistic signs" in countries worst affected by coronavirus, others, such as the UK, demonstrated "sustained or increased levels of incidents".

During the weekly WHO Europe briefing on Thursday morning, Dr Kluge described how "the storm cloud" of Covid-19 "still hangs heavily over the European region".

And the UK was one of a handful of countries he singled-out for providing an antidote to optimism elsewhere among the 53 members in the WHO's European region.

He said: "Of the 10 countries in the region with the highest numbers of cases, there have been optimistic signs in terms of the climbing numbers in Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland in recent weeks.

"But small positive signals in some countries are tempered by sustained or increased levels of incidents in other countries, including in the UK, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia."

Dr Kluge said the number of positive coronavirus cases reported in Europe "nearly doubled in 10 days" to nearly one million, accounting for around half of all cases reported worldwide.

Meanwhile, retired 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore, who is 100 on April 30, has raised £14 million for NHS staff with daily walks in his garden. His promise to complete 100 laps of his large garden has brought 650,000 people to pledge donations.

Don't forget: #ClapForHeroes tonight at 8pm (no one deserves it more)