The number of NHS workers who have died during the coronavirus pandemic is higher than the official figure of 27, the Health Secretary has admitted.
Matt Hancock said “we know” the toll has increased, while being quizzed by MPs during the first ever virtual Commons session on Friday.
It comes after a “highly valued and loved” pregnant NHS nurse became the latest to pass away, but her baby was delivered successfully by emergency cesarean section.
Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, who worked at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital for five years, died on Sunday after battling Covid-19 for a week.
Pressed on the true figure by his predecessor Jeremy Hunt during a grilling by the Health and Social Care Committee, Mr Hancock said: “The official verified figure remains 27, it gets updated three times a week and I will let you know as soon as I get an update.
“Sadly we’ve all seen reports of Mary, the nurse who was in the late stages of pregnancy and died since the publication of the previous figures, so we know that the figure is higher.”
Asked if he would commit to plans to publish the figures three times a week, he vowed to try to change them to daily.
Mr Hancock also revealed that 7.1 per cent of NHS staff are currently off sick for suspected Covid-19 but that 50,000 front line healthcare workers had been tested.
It comes as the Government is under fire over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) on the front line, which some NHS workers’ families have blamed for their loved ones’ deaths.
The head of an NHS trust in southern England has reportedly pleaded for the help of a British fashion company as he fears his staff will soon run out of hospital gowns.
Mr Hancock admitted the NHS was "tight" on PPE gowns, describing it as "our current pressure point". He added that 55,000 more are arriving today and one billion items of PPE will have been distributed by the weekend.
Nurses, doctors, surgeons, hospital porters and midwifes are among the NHS workers who have fallen after contracting the virus.
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The latest figure of 27 is an increase on Sunday when it stood at 19, but reports from NHS trusts and tributes from loved ones suggest it could have now exceeded 40.
