Published 11:08 IST, April 8th 2020
UK government says no 'big upswing of growth' in coronavirus cases
While speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, UK Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance said that there is no ‘big upswing of growth’.
The United Kingdom government, on April 7, has confirmed that the country is not seeing an acceleration in coronavirus cases. While speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance said that there is no ‘big upswing of growth’. However, he also mentioned that there still has been a fairly steady increase in numbers.
Vallance said, “What you can see is there is not that big upswing of growth that we talked about at the beginning. There is a fairly steady increase in numbers. It's possible we're beginning to see the beginning of change in terms of the curve flattening a little bit. We won't know that for sure for a week or so. What we're not seeing is an acceleration”.
Currently, the UK has more than 55,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and the deadly virus has claimed nearly 6,159 lives in the country. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also battling coronavirus infection and he was recently moved to intensive care. The British PM had declared that he was tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, and since then he was in self-isolation and was even chairing digital cabinet meetings over UK’s response to the pandemic.
With increasing numbers, the authorities have also urged people to stay home and have said that it is vital that people play their part to help contain the spread of the deadly virus. The UK government has also assured that they were doing every bit to improve its response and to make sure that the hospitals had the equipment was also being brought in from countries like Germany and Switzerland. Meanwhile, last week, Prince Charles opened a new 4,000-bed temporary hospital in a conference centre in east London. According to the official NHS website, the hospital is built in Bristol and Harrogate to provide beds if local services need them during the peak of coronavirus.
Coronavirus outbreak
Coronavirus, which originated in China in December 2019, has now claimed over 82,000 lives worldwide as of April 8. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 209 countries and territories and has infected more than one million people. Out of the total infections, 302,000 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries including Spain, and the economy is struggling.
(Image source: AP)
Updated 11:08 IST, April 8th 2020