Atherstone update: Covid-19 deaths in the UK 'do not reflect true situation with mortality out of hospital not evenly distributed'

NUBS NEWS STATS: AVERAGE 800 DEATHS A DAY IN THE LAST FORTNIGHT AND CONFIRMED CASES OF NEARLY 5,000 EVERY 24 HOURS

ATHERSTONE and the rest of the country have been told to expect a sizeable increase in coronavirus deaths from the recorded statistics provided in and outside hospitals.

A Government adviser today admitted the current data "doesn't reflect the true situation" as the UK deaths in the last 24 hours fell to its lowest increase in a fortnight.

The 449 additional people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 infection – 10 more than recorded on April 6 – put the hospital death tally at 16,509 with confirmed cases rising by 4,676 to 124,743.

But the Office for National Statistics seemed to indicate today deaths in hospitals are under-reporting the fatalities by as much as 40 per cent while a study has estimated that deaths in care homes alone could be as high as 6,000.

The National Care Forum, which represents not-for-profit care providers, found there has been 4,040 coronavirus-related deaths in care homes which have not yet been included in official figures, bringing the UK's total death toll to at least 20,000 and possibly more.

As Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared to be signalling continued lockdown "for many weeks" from his Chequers convalescence and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden spoke of restrictions remaining partly in place for a total of three months – Public Health England medical director

Professor Yvonne Doyle said: "I do feel that the burden of mortality out of hospital isn't evenly distributed in the country." Midland towns, cities and counties have seen larger-than-normal increases over the last 24 hours. While Kent retains the 'hot spot' for coronavirus in the upper tier local authority table with 2,402 people testing positive for the virus – Birmingham saw 179 new cases and remains in second spot with 2,312. Warwickshire has 842 confirmed cases (55 up on yesterday), Coventry broke the 500 barrier (515) – Atherstone's neighbouring county Staffordshire has 1,248 cases and Leicestershire 707. By region, London now has 21,654 cases, East and West Midlands is 15,368 combined, the North West 14,328 and the South East 12,878. Despite the authorities indicating a possible peaking of numbers, Nub News can reveal that in the last two weeks the UK death toll has risen by 11,136 – almost two thirds of its current 16,509 total. The mean average over that period is just shy of 800 deaths a day. More than half the UK's confirmed cases have been recorded in the last 14 days – up 68,223 to 124,743. The daily average over that period is 4,873. More than one in six of people who had tested positive for coronavirus when they died were from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, new data shows. On Monday, NHS England released figures showing the ethnic breakdown of people who have died with Covid-19for the first time. The stats, using data up to 5pm on Friday, reveal that of 13,918 patients in hospitals in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 at time of death, 73.6 per cent were of white ethnicity, 16.2 per cent were of BAME ethnicity and 0.7 per cent had mixed ethnicity. The statistics come days after a review was announced to examine what appears to be a disproportionate number of BAME people who have been affected by Covid-19. In the 2011 UK census around 7.5 per cent of the population were Asian and 3.3 per cent black. As the UK passed the 500,000 mark for coronavirus testing, nearly 1,000 kits are being flown out to the British overseas territory of St Helena, which has so far avoided an outbreak of the disease. A charter flight from the UK to the remote South Atlantic island is due to arrive on Monday, carrying 960 Covid-19 tests as well as supplies of personal protective equipment. St Helena, which has a population of around 4,300, remains in the "prevent" stage of handling the coronavirus crisis. Social distancing measures for the vulnerable and elderly were issued as a precautionary measure by the St Helenian government at the end of March. But these were lifted on April 14, as authorities said there was no evidence of the virus on the remote island. Personal protection equipment continues to be is a subject of great concern to health professionals battling the pandemic. Niall Dickson – chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across healthcare – has reacted angrily to the UK government's promises of more PPE. It comes after a shipment of 400,000 surgical gowns, which had been due to arrive in the UK from Turkey on Sunday, was delayed until today. Mr Dickson said: "It would have been better had the government not made the announcement [about the delivery] in the first place." He added that staff would need to make their own assessment over whether they felt safe with the PPE currently on offer. The delayed RAF flight to Turkey has now taken off and the Ministry of Defence confirmed the first

of three expected RAF transport aircraft had left for Ankara this evening.

The flights will collect 84 tonnes of personal protective equipment in total.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told Monday's daily press conference that 140,000 gowns had arrived from Mynamar as ministers strained "everything" to get supplies

Across Europe, where numbers of cases and deaths are thankfully beginning to fall, the number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Spain has passed the 200,000 threshold while deaths in

France has officially registered more than 20,000 – the fourth nation after Italy, Spain and world leader United States to pass the grim milestone. Actor Idris Elba, who along with his wife suffered mild symptoms of coronavirus, has suggested the world should take a week of quarantine every year "just to remember this time". Meanwhile, a study by Newsweek has revealed people cannot help touching their own faces and smelling themselves to check they don't smell too bad. It is thought a quarter of respiratory diseases are transferred due to face-touching. Finally, leading UK doctors believe face masks must be worn as a compulsory measure to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus.