Yorkshire sees rising trend in coronavirus hospital admissions

Speaking at the Government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Health secretary Matt Hancock said today marked a “sombre day”, as the death toll reached 10,612 in the UK.

Mr Hancock thanked people for the part they are playing in sticking to lock down rules over the Easter weekend but urged everyone not to be complacent

He went over the latest statistics and the Government’s policies in dealing with the coronavirus.

Sheffield’s coronavirus death toll now stands at 98 – with another nine fatalities recorded over the last 24 hours.

Sheffield on brink of 100 deaths as latest figures reveal 9,594 fatalities in England

Yvonne Doyle, medical director and director of health protection for Public Health England, said the rate of hospital admissions appeared to be stabilising in London but was increasing in Yorkshire, the Northeast and the Northwest of the country.

She said; “It is very important that the message about staying at home and and social distancing is adhered to because we are certainly not past this virus damage yet.”

The UK as a whole was tracking the Italian and French trends.

She added: "It is early days and patterns may change as we saw in other countries."

Mr Hancock said there was a record amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the health system.

An additional 150 critical care beds are now available, he said and a “record number” of 9,775 ventilators is now available.

He said that 121,000 PPE gowns have been delivered over the past week and added: “Thank you to all involved in the herculean effort on PPE.”

Hancock said the Government “would not rest” until everyone gets the necessary PPE delivered.

The health secretary announced that the Government was testing an app, The Next Step which would trace infections.

“If you become unwell with symptoms of coronavirus , you can securely tell the app which will send anonymously to other app users who you have been in significant contact with over the past few days.”