UK coronavirus death toll hits 18,100 as peak nears

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday said Britain is making some progress through the “peak” of the coronavirus pandemic crisis as the country's death toll from COVID-19 hit 18,100 – a daily rise of 759.

Raab, the First Secretary of State who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recuperates after testing positive for coronavirus, said during the daily Downing Street briefing that the UK’s strict social distancing rules were making a difference and saving lives.

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“It has been a mental strain on people. We are making progress through the peak of this virus but we are not out of the woods yet,” said Raab, as he stressed that the biggest risk remains of a so-called “second peak” if the lockdown is eased ahead of time.

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is certainly a glimmer… but we are not there yet,” he said.

He reiterated the five preconditions previously set by the government before any lifting of social distancing measures can be considered – protecting the National Health Service’s ability to cope; a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates; reliable data showing that the rate of infection is decreasing; confidence that the range of operational challenges such as testing are in hand; and confidence that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections.

The minister was joined at the daily briefing by General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the UK Defence Staff, who spoke about the logistical support provided by the armed forces to the Department of Health and NHS.

"In all of my more than 40 years of service this is the single greatest logistic challenge that I have come across," he said, adding that in just 25 days, his officers have helped the NHS deliver to nearly 50,000 customers – that figure was previously 250.

They have also created 260,000 square feet of distribution warehousing – nearly four football fields worth.

"People used to joke in this country you couldn't build a hospital that quickly [as China], well we didn't just build one, we built seven and we thank our armed forces for helping to make that happen," said Raab, in reference to new makeshift hospitals built on conference centre sites around the UK.

“The sight of our armed forces working with NHS staff offers a calm reassurance to the British public,” he added.