UK registers 377 more Covid-19 fatalities as death toll hits 37,837 with around 8,000 new cases still diagnosed per day

The UK health authorities have reported another 377 Covid-19 fatalities today, with the total death toll now hovering around 37,837.

ADDITIONALLY, thousands of new coronavirus cases are still being diagnosed every day. According to the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, “The UK is seeing 54,000 new virus infections in the community every week.” This is still a “significant burden of new infections – around 8,000 per day,” he added.

“That is not a low number, so it’s worth remembering that we still have a significant burden of infection. We are still seeing new infections every day at quite a significant rate and the R is close to one. That means there is not a lot of room to do things and things need to be done cautiously, step-by-step and monitored, and the Test and Trace system needs to be effective in order to manage that,” emphasised Vallance.

The UK’s Test and Trace programme was launched this morning, as reported, thanks to the help of around 25,000 contact tracers. Speaking at the daily Downing Street conference briefing today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphasised that lockdown changes would be limited as a result. However, families were relieved to hear that groups of six people can meet from Monday in a relaxation of lockdown rules for England, as reported.