Coronavirus: Two more deaths in Shropshire bring death toll to 69
Two more Shropshire patients have have been confirmed to have died after testing positive for coronavirus.
One patient was in the care of Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) and the other with Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust.
It means a total of 69 people have been confirmed as dying at the county's major health trusts, with 63 at SaTH, four at Shropshire Community Health and two at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry.
A further 616 deaths were yesterday confirmed in the UK, bring the death toll to 18,738.
Of these, 514 were confirmed in England, where the death toll now stands at 16,786.
The news came after HM Revenue & Customs revealed firms have applied for 3.2 million workers to be furloughed since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
It said that 435,000 applications have been made to the Government’s job retention scheme since it opened earlier this week.
Around £3.75 billion worth of applications had been made for the scheme by midnight on Wednesday, after £1 billion worth of claims were made in the last 24 hours.
In other news, the World Health Organisation has said residents in long-term care facilities account for up to half of coronavirus-related deaths in Europe.
Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said there was a “deeply concerning picture” emerging of the impact Covid-19 is having on those in care.
He told a press conference on Thursday that the way some care facilities operate is “providing pathways” for the virus to spread within the population.
Dr Kluge said: “According to estimates from countries in the European region, up to half of those who have died from Covid-19 were resident in long-term care facilities.
“This is an unimaginable human tragedy.”
He also spoke to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for him, on Wednesday but the Prime Minister is not carrying out official work and there is no timetable for his return, Number 10 said.
Mr Johnson spoke to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, but he has not addressed the public since April 12 when he delivered a message after his treatment in intensive care.
Luis Pitarma and Jenny McGee were singled out for praise by the Prime Minister after treating him at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London when he was admitted with persistent coronavirus symptoms.
He is recuperating at Chequers, his countryside residence, with Carrie Symonds, his pregnant fiancee.
