Britain records 684 deaths in 24 hours due to COVID-19

Britain has reported a record of 684 single-day death toll due to COVID-19 and 4,450 new cases of Coronavirus, taking the total cases over 38,000 in the UK. British Prime Boris Johnson, who also tested positive for the Coronavirus, has come under fire for failing to provide widespread screening as a relied approach of containing the deadly virus.

After severe backlash over the government’s response of COVID-19, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) announced that it will carry out 100,000 tests for Coronavirus every day by the end of the month. In the new range of measures to combat the crisis, the Prime Minister’s Office said that the government has a new 5-point plan to improve testing of the deadly virus.

“We are writing off NHS debt as part of a major financial reset for NHS providers,” said Downing Street.

Read: Under-fire Johnson Says UK Will 'massively Increase Testing'

5-point plan

Under the 5-point plan announced by Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said that mass swab testing for critical workers, mass antibody testing and surveillance testing will be included. The Department of Health and Social Care outlined the ambition to scale-up swab testing in PHE labs and NHS hospitals for those with a medical need and the most critical workers to 25,000 a day by mid to late April.

“Once widespread testing is available, we will prioritise repeated testing of critical key workers, to keep them safe and make sure that they do not spread the virus,” the department added.

Read: COVID-19: Johnson Urges People To Stay Home As UK Records Highest Single-day Death Toll

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has been continuously urging people to follow the government advisory to beat the Coronavirus pandemic. Johnson has been under quarantine after he tested positive for the virus and headed the first-ever digital cabinet meeting on March 31. The UK government has been running #StayHomeSaveLives campaign to encourage people to practice social distancing and stay at home as much as possible.

Read: Boris Johnson Chairs 'first Ever Digital Cabinet' In UK Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Read: Amid COVID-19 Crisis, UK PM Boris Johnson Faces Pressure To Push Brexit Transition Period

(Image credit: AP)