UK's coronavirus deaths pass 16,500

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - British health authorities announced on Monday that the U.K.-wide death toll from coronavirus rose by 449 in past 24 hours.

The Department of Health reported: “386,044 people have been tested of which 124,743 tested positive.

“As of 5pm on 19 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 16,509 have sadly died.”

At the daily press briefing, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new £1.25 billion [$1.55 billion] package to protect innovative British firms during the coronavirus outbreak.

The package includes a £500 million investment fund for high-growth companies impacted by the crisis, with a further £750 million worth of grants and loans to SMEs focusing on research and development.

Earlier in the day at a separate press briefing at Downing Street, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: “The prime minister is continuing his recovery at Chequers. He isn’t doing government work. He has been receiving updates on the coronavirus response, and he has spoken with the first secretary of state, as well as senior members of his Number 10 team.”

The first secretary of state is Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab who is deputizing for Johnson.

The prime minister’s spokesman also said that avoiding a second peak of infections was now the main priority of the government, as pressure mounts from the opposition to explain the lockdown exit strategy.

“The big concern is a second peak,” the spokesman stressed, adding: “That is what ultimately will do the most damage to health and the most damage to the economy. If you move too quickly, then the virus could begin to spread exponentially again. The public will expect us to do everything we can to stop the spread of the virus and protect life.”

The Centre for Economics and Business Research said in a report that U.K. households’ disposable incomes would be 17% lower in the second quarter of 2020, a fall of £515 per month per household due to factors such as rising unemployment, and lower pay or hours.

The stadium of British Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion FC has been converted into a COVID-19 drive-in test center, the largest on the U.K.’s south coast.

The American Express Community Stadium will soon be able to carry out up to 1,000 tests per day, and is part of the government’s effort to ramp up testing for National Health Service staff and key workers across the country.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world.

The pandemic has killed over 167,300 people, with total infections exceeding 2.43 million, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.