Another fall in Covid-19 cases recorded in Lancashire

Official figures show that 35 more cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Lancashire.
Public Health England figures for LancashirePublic Health England figures for Lancashire
Public Health England figures for Lancashire

The statistics compare to 47 new cases the previous day and brings the number of cases recorded in the county up to 313, as the UK saw its biggest daily increase in deaths to date.

Public Health England figures show that 313 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am Tuesday morning (March 31) in Lancashire, up from 278 the same time on Monday. A week before, there were 71 cases.

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They were among the 2,132 cases recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 285 over the 24-hour period.

Across the UK, 25,150 people had tested positive for coronavirus as of 9am on Tuesday, up from 22,141 at the same point on Monday, Department of Health and Social Care figures show.

In total, 143,186 people had been tested, and, as of 5pm on Monday, 1,789 had died.

At an increase of 381 people in 24-hours, that was the biggest daily rise in the UK's death toll since the crisis began.

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Ministers have been urged to increase the rate of testing for coronavirus, after a 13-year-old boy from South London became the first known child in the UK to die with the disease.

Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab died at King's College in London on Monday, after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove described the sharp rise in deaths as "deeply shocking" in the daily coronavirus press conference from Downing Street on Monday.

He acknowledged that the Government needed to go "further, faster" to ramp up testing, but said a shortage of the chemical reagents needed for the tests was proving to be a "critical constraint".

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Currently about 8,000 tests a day are being carried out, despite ministers having previously claimed to have met a target of 10,000 a day.

A further target of 25,000 tests a day is not now expected to be reached until the end of April.

Dr Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, meanwhile urged younger people to take the coronavirus risk seriously.

She said: "I think we have been clear that although what we know about this disease is that in general younger people are not having significant, severe illness, it is the case, very sadly, that young people can still be affected.

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"It doesn't matter what age you are, you should be staying at home and observing all the social distancing measures that we have highlighted."

In other coronavirus news, preparations are under way to convert an ice rink in Milton Keynes into an emergency mortuary, with the council leader predicting the venue could hold bodies "in the hundreds".

The news comes after work began on a temporary mortuary at Birmingham Airport which could hold up to 12,000 bodies in a worst-case scenario.