UK's deaths from coronavirus exceed 14,500

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - British health authorities announced on Friday that the U.K.-wide death toll from coronavirus increased by 847 in 24 hours.

The Department of Health reported: “341,551 people have been tested of which 108,692 tested positive.

“As of 5pm on 16 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 14,576 have sadly died.”

At a press briefing earlier in the day at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s spokesman said Boris Johnson was “continuing his recovery at Chequers [the premier's country house] and he is not doing government work."

The spokesman said Johnson had spoken with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputizing for him, on Thursday, and has not been on any calls with foreign leaders.

The spokesman said Brits should not book summer holidays, adding: “While we are making progress in our fight against coronavirus, we are not able to say with certainty the point at which the social distancing measures can be relaxed and in terms of traveling within the UK for holidays, that is not something which the current social distancing guidelines allow for.

“Secondly, in terms of travel abroad, the advice of the Foreign Office continues to be that you should go abroad for essential travel only. As of today, it is a fact that both the guidelines and the official Foreign Office advice do not allow for people going on holidays,” the spokesman noted.

Local media also reported that the U.K. has set up the world’s largest trial of drugs to cure coronavirus, beating similar experiments in the U.S. and Europe both in speed and scale.

The UK-wide trial will involve 5,000 patients in 165 hospitals, much bigger than other countries where only a few hundred will be involved.

The scheme, called "Recovery", is led by Peter Horby, an expert of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford University -- who also led Ebola drug trials in west Africa.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world, with its epicenter shifting to Europe and the U.S.

The pandemic has killed over 147,300 people and infected some 2.18 million, while nearly 555,000 have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.