Coronavirus: Further Shropshire death brings toll at county hospitals to 104

Another patient has died with coronavirus at Shropshire's major hospitals.

Another patient has been confirmed as dying with Covid-19 in the care of Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust

It takes the death toll at the county's major health trusts to 104 since the outbreak began.

Meanwhile a further 204 people have been confirmed to have died in hospitals in England, bringing the total to 21,384.

Across the UK a total of 28,734 people have now been confirmed to have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 288 from yesterday.

The latest Shropshire death was at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).

It means 93 patients have now died and tested positive for the virus at SaTH, while another six have died at Shropshire Community Health Trust, and five at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry.

The cumulative number of hospital coronavirus deaths in Shropshire by date of death as of May 4. Data: NHS England. Figures likely to increase as further deaths announced.

Data from the Office for National Statistics has also revealed that 36 people died with the virus in Shropshire care homes between April 10 and 24.

In Powys nine people are so far confirmed as having died with the virus while across Wales the death toll in care homes and hospitals rose by 14 to 997 today.

The news comes as Downing Street has announced London’s NHS Nightingale hospital is to stop admitting new patients following limited demand for its services.

Soldiers and private contractors help to convert the ExCel centre, London into a temporary NHS Nightingale hospital (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that there were no new coronavirus admissions expected at the hospital in east London’s ExCel centre in the coming days.

Although it will not accept new patients, the temporary hospital will remain on “standby” should it need to resume operations in the future.

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Meanwhile, a £14 million fund to help zoos and aquariums look after their animals in the face of pandemic closures has been announced by the Government.

Zoos and aquariums have lost visitor income having been forced to shut due in the lockdown, but still face the costs of looking after the animals in their care.

The Government said the funding would help zoos cover costs relating to keeping the animals and ensuring welfare standards are upheld – helping pay for things such as feed, heating and security.

The Environment Department (Defra) also said it would continue to work with some of the largest zoos to discuss additional concerns about funding in the longer term.

In other news, a new survey suggests the behaviour of road users has deteriorated since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

An AA poll of more than 19,700 drivers indicated that a quarter (25 per cent) feel car drivers and cyclists are behaving worse than before the outbreak.

This is compared with 21 per cent who think cars are being driven better, and 10 per cent who believe cycling has improved.

And lastly, Asda has offered priority delivery slots to thousands of care homes for the next six months and donated 250,000 face masks to protect workers and residents, the supermarket said.

Bosses said 3,500 care homes across the country will be able to book the slots.

It follows similar moves by other supermarkets to offer deliveries to those finding it hardest to get to stores during the coronavirus lockdown.