Coronavirus on Easter Bank Holiday Monday: UK's new 717 deaths put us top of case fatality rate for the world

DEATH TOLL NOW AT 11,329 AS RECORDED CONFIRMED CASES SET TO PASS 100,000 BY THURSDAY

CORONAVIRUS deaths in the UK climbed past 11,000 today as ministers are set to wrestle with when it is safe to start easing the lockdown stranglehold before it suffocates the lifeblood out of the economy.

But the Government will have to take into consideration another grim milestone in the Britain's battle with Covid-19 – topping the case fatality rate for the whole world as Nub News predicted yesterday.

The 717 new recorded deaths – up to 11,329 out of 88,621 positive cases – means the new CFR of 12.78 per cent has overtaken Italy's figure of 12.72 per cent in its 19,899 deaths. Spain, with 17,489 deaths out of 169,496 cases, lies third with a 10.31 per cent mortality rate.

More than half the UK deaths have come in the last eight days – just over 6,000 in that period. Ministers have still failed to answer questions on what is the true UK tally as many people will have died from the virus outside of hospital.

And now the 'recovered' figure has been removed from official stats, with 77,000 'still active' out of a total of more than 88,000 people testing positive – the difference being the death tally.

At current rates of additional cases, the UK will pass the 100,000 barrier by Thursday at the latest.

Britain, in its fourth week of lockdown, is due to review the measures on that day but Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it wasn't the time to end restrictions yet.

Ministers have talked about wanting to make sure the UK is past the peak of the outbreak before easing the restrictions, but the effect of lockdown conditions on the economy is said to be worrying some members of the Cabinet as Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to recuperate at Chequers from his four-day spell in intensive care after failing to shake off persistent virus symptoms.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who warned during his Budget last month that the UK risks falling into recession as a result of disruption caused by coronavirus, has injected £14 billion from the coronavirus emergency response fund into the NHS and local authorities.

Whether the start of easing restrictions is targeted, other countries over their peak in case terms are beginning the long haul back to some measure of normality.

In Spain, some non-essential workers have been allowed to return to work this morning with construction and manufacturing companies reopening in several parts of the country.

businesses are expected to stick To strict safety guidelines for workers with non-essential shops, restaurants and entertainment venues remaining closed.

It has been reported that 10 million face masks will be given to those travelling on public transport.

The other dilemma for all countries is the return of the virus – its re-emergence rather than new daily linked to infected travellers returning from overseas.

The UK prime minister tested negative for coronavirus before being discharged from hospital, Downing Street has confirmed

But that wasn't the case in two people discharged from a hospital in Noida near Delhi, Inida, last Friday.

They both tested negative for coronavirus in the space of 24 hours at Noida's Government Institute of Medical Sciences but on being readmitted to the hospital after a third round of tests showed positive results.

A detailed report will be sent to the centre after the doctors investigate, officials said.

China has confirmed 108 new cases – the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases in nearly six weeks – but the rise is thought to be connected to people returning from abroad.

The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 82,160, while the death toll rose by two to 3,341.

South Korea will test everyone arriving from the US within three days of self-isolation.

The measure went into effect today.

The US could reach their peak this week, a top health official has said.

The US has recorded more fatalities from coronavirus than any other country – 22,133 – about 2,000 deaths were reported for each of the last four days in a row. Some 10,000 of those deaths are in New York state.

Recorded cases in the US stand at more than 561,000 out of a world total of 1.87 million and 116,000 lost lives.

The jury is still out on personal protection equipment for frontline NHS staff in the UK.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers in England, which represents hospital trusts, said supply of gowns – imported from China – was "hand-to-mouth" and despite stock ordered weeks ago, there appears to be delays caused by the product sometimes failing safety tests, while other batches have been mislabelled.

The son of a top medic who died after warning the government about a lack of PPE for NHS workers on the frontline says he is "100 per cent" sure that shortages are costing the heroes their lives.

Intisar Chowhury, 18, spoke to Good Morning Britain about the death of his father Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, who lost his life last Wednesday after contracting coronavirus. Five days before the 53-year-old was admitted to Queen's Hospital in Romford he had appealed for "appropriate PPE and remedies" to "protect ourselves and our families".

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has confirmed that there are 70 vaccines in development globally with three candidates already being tested in human trials.

The furthest along in the clinical process is a vaccine developed by the Hong Kong listed CanSino Biologies Inc and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology which is in phase two.

A British coronavirus vaccine, being worked on by a team at Oxford University, is said to be "just weeks away" with an "80 per cent confidence" the new drug will work.

The drug is set to be tested in a six-month trial of 510 volunteers in the Thames Valley region.