UK records 616 more COVID-19 deaths, total at 18,738 as NHS struggles against the pandemic

The United Kingdom health ministry on Thursday, April 23 reported nearly 616 more coronavirus deaths, taking the country's death toll to 18,738. Though the daily rise in the toll was lower than the previous days, the UK is still struggling to contain the deadly outbreak of the virus. According to Worldometer, the UK has over 138,078 active COVID-19 cases out of which nearly 1,559 are in critical condition. 

With the virus still wreaking havoc in the country, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock informed that the authorities have set a '100,000 coronavirus tests' which will be carried out daily from the end of this month. While addressing the daily coronavirus briefing, he added that the testing capacity has also increased to 51,000 a day because of the ‘test, track and trace’ formula.

Furthermore, Hancock also informed that any essential worker who needs a test will be able to book an appointment on gov.uk themselves from April 24. 

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‘Vaccine Taskforce’ 

In a bid to overcome the COVID-19 infection, last week the UK government also announced a ‘Vaccine Taskforce’ which will drive forward, expedite and co-ordinate efforts to research and produce a coronavirus vaccine. According to the official UK government website, the taskforce will be led by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam. 

The authorities will be supporting efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible by providing industry and research institutions with the required resources and support. They will be reviewing regulations and scaling up manufacturing so that when the vaccine becomes available, it can be produced at a quick pace and in mass quantities. 

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Furthermore, the authorities also announced that 21 new coronavirus research projects will benefit from accumulated funding, worth around £14 million (about $17,2 million).

The authorities have also invited GP surgeries to take part in the ‘ground-breaking trial’, to ascertain whether it could reduce the need for affected patients to go to the hospital and speed up their recovery. Furthermore, the government also announced one new project led by the University of Oxford, in which they will trial anti-malarial drug to determine whether it could diminish the effects of COVID-19 on people in identified high-risk groups. 

(Image source: AP) 

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