UK coronavirus hospital deaths soar by 283 as new surge testing announced

Coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK have increased by 283, according to the latest daily figures.

A further 258 patients have died in England, 16 in Wales, five in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland.

The daily number of fatalities is down by more than 10% on last Sunday when 331 deaths were announced.

The Midlands and the north-east and Yorkshire were the worst affected English areas in today’s figures.

Both regions reported 53 deaths each, followed by 46 in the south-east, 37 in the east, 25 in London, 23 in the north-west and 21 in the south-west.

The latest figures were released after the government announced surge testing in Brentwood, Essex, after a person tested positive for the South African strain in the area.

Meanwhile, the final details of Boris Johnson’s lockdown roadmap are being agreed at a meeting of the ‘Covid O’ committee today.

Mr Johnson will reportedly chair a Cabinet meeting tomorrow before delivering his roadmap to the Commons at around 3.30pm, followed by a televised address to the nation at 7pm.

The government has also promised that every UK adult would be offered their vaccine jab by July 31.

Ministers had been aiming to offer jabs to all Brits by September and all those aged 50 and over by May.

One third of adults in the UK have already received their first dose, Matt Hancock announced today.

The Health Secretary expressed confidence over the impact of the vaccine on transmission of the virus.

However he insisted the Government must take a “cautious” approach to easing lockdown, ahead of the Prime Minister’s much anticipated speech on easing restrictions.

Mr Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “As of this morning, one in three adults of all adults in the whole country have been vaccinated – it’s great news.

“We are confident that the vaccine works effectively against both the old strain that has been here for some time and the so-called Kent variant, which is now the main source of infection in this country.

“We do not yet have the confidence that the vaccine is as effective against the South Africa variant and the variant first seen in Brazil, but we do think that the measures that we have taken – both the enhanced contact tracing and the measures at the border – are reducing those new variants here.”

More than 17.2 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a vaccine and 600,000 have received their second.