Shropshire Star

First coronavirus death at Orthopaedic Hospital as England death toll reaches 4,897

A patient being treated at Shropshire's orthopaedic hospital has died with coronavirus.

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The patient died at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, on Saturday, but NHS England has confirmed the news this afternoon.

The patient is the first to die and test positive for coronavirus within the hospital's care.

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No more patients have died with coronavirus at Shropshire's emergency hospitals at Shrewsbury and Telford according to NHS England.

It means 27 people who tested positive for coronavirus have now died in the county.

Across the UK the death toll increased by 439 to 5,373 today, while in England 403 more patients died bringing the total to 4,897.

The English patients were aged between 35 and 106 and of these 15 patients, aged between 52 and 94, had no known underlying health condition.

In Wales a further 27 people have died, taking the number of deaths in the country to 193.

Seven new cases have also been reported in Powys, taking the county's total number of cases to 55.

The news comes as the First Minister for Wales has said he will call for an extension of the current three-week lockdown. The First Minister of Wales said it was important all four nations to decide whether to extend the current lockdown while Boris Johnson remains in hospital receiving treatment for persistent coronavirus symptoms.

Mark Drakeford

On Monday Mr Drakeford told Wales’ daily coronavirus briefing he wished the Prime Minister a “speedy recovery”, but stressed measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 should now be reviewed as the current three-week lockdown nears its end.

Meanwhile, Professor Sir John Bell, from Oxford University, who advises the Government on life sciences, has said a mass antibody test is at least a month away. Professor Bell said the search was on for an antibody test that would prove effective, but those tested so far had failed.

Oxford is involved in scrutinising antibody tests that can tell people whether they have had the virus and can get back to normal life – one of the key routes out of the UK’s current lockdown.

Researchers seeking a way of detecting coronavirus from the sound of a person’s cough or even their voice have launched an app to collect recordings from as many people as possible.

Cambridge University’s Covid-19 Sounds App asks users to submit recordings of them breathing in and out, coughing, and reading the sentence “I hope my data can help to manage the virus pandemic”.

And finally, the effectiveness of face masks has been put under the microscope by a new study. There is no strong evidence to support the general public wearing face masks to protect against Covid-19, researchers have said, although they may offer some protection for the vulnerable or those living with somebody who is ill.

A team from the University of East Anglia (UEA) carried out a rapid review of existing scientific evidence and concluded there was no push to change current UK policy, which does not recommend the widespread use of face masks.

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