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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

Covid daily hospital deaths fall to 42 with healthy 37-year-old among victims

Coronavirus hospital deaths keep falling as 42 more people in the UK died of the disease - a significant fall on a week ago.

The death toll is down a third from last Sunday, when 61 people died after contracting the virus.

A further 35 people died in England, bringing the total number of reported deaths in hospitals in the nation to 85,765.

A 37-year-old with no underlying conditions was among the victims, NHS England confirmed.

Public Health Wales reported six further deaths, taking the total in the country since the start of the pandemic to 5,488.

Scotland reported a further 532 cases and no additional fatalities.

Infection rates and death tolls continue to drop (Adam Gerrard / Sunday Mirror)

Northern Ireland's toll rose by one to 2,104 over the course of the pandemic.

Yesterday, the UK's coronavirus hospital death toll rose by 85 in the lowest Saturday figure in five months.

The figure included 71 in England, six in Wales, eight in Scotland, and no new deaths in Northern Ireland.

Britain hit a major vaccinations milestone yesterday as Matt Hancock revealed half of all UK adults have now received a first dose.

The Health Secretary announced the milestone in a Twitter video and wrote: "Yesterday we vaccinated more people than any day yet. I'm delighted to be able to say that we've now vaccinated HALF of all adults in the UK.

"The vaccine is a national success story & our way out of this pandemic. When you get the call, get the jab."

Matt Hancock confirmed half of all UK adults have now had a Covid-19 vaccine (@MattHancock /Twitter)

The UK has rolled out the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines at pace, as Boris Johnson stakes his roadmap out of lockdown in part on the success of the vaccine rollout.

A record number of people received their Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, with 711,156 doses given to the UK public.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it remains "on track" to offer the vaccine to all over-50s by April 15.

It comes as countries across Europe have had to impose tougher restrictions amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, with UK scientists warning overseas holidays this summer will be "extremely unlikely".

Boris Johnson received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine of Friday (Getty)

Boris Johnson was among those to receive his first dose on Friday when he was given the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in central London.

Some 2,132,551 people in the UK - around 4% of all adults - have been given their second dose of the vaccine, while almost 95% of people aged 60 and over have received their first jab, the DHSC said.

In the UK, hospital admissions and deaths are still coming down due to the effect of vaccines, but there are worries that cases could rise quickly once restrictions are eased.

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said although another wave was "likely" in the UK, the impact could be less deadly than previous ones.

He told Times Radio: "I think another wave is possible. Likely, even.

"I guess the difference is that another wave will cause substantially fewer deaths and hospitalisations because of high levels of vaccination across the sorts of people who would have ended up in hospital or unfortunately dying if they haven't been vaccinated.

"So the consequences of another wave are less. I think the challenge is of course we don't know exactly how much less."

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