Everyone Must Help To Keep Down The Death Toll

Top Medic's Hope of 20K Dead "Good Results"

- Nigel Nelson

Britain’s top medic yesterday begged the nation to keep the coronavirus death toll down – and said 20,000 fatalities would be a good result.

NHS Medical Director Stephen Powis told a Downing Street news conference: “If we can keep deaths below 20,000 we will have done very well in this epidemic.

“But we shouldn’t be complacent about that. It will only happen if we stop the transmission of the virus.”

In a day of dramatic developments in the pandemic.

THE NUMBER of deaths in the UK rose to 1,019 with 260 in the last 24 hours – the largest increase in a single day and including 13 otherwise healthy adults.

A THIRD Cabinet member announced they were in self-isolation after displaying symptoms of Covid-19 – Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.

DONALD TRUMP is considering quarantining New York as a resident dies every seven and a half minutes of Covid-19 in the state.

CONFIRMED coronavirus infections worldwide topped 600,000, with 29,951 deaths.

The NHS medical director’s fears of only 20,000 deaths follows predictions in the early stages of the disease that the UK should brace itself for 250,000 people being killed.

Predict It was those warnings – based on computer modelling at Imperial College, London – which prompted Boris Johnson to order a national lockdown on Monday.