E3: Coronavirus: UK hospital deaths top 15,000 after 888 more patients die

Further 21,ooo tests done as union says medics may walk out over lack of PPE. Follow all the day’s developments in the UK’s Covid-19 crisis

NHS England has announced 784 more deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 13,918.

Of the 784 new deaths announced on Saturday:
- 150 occurred on 17 April.
- 320 occurred on 16 April.
- 101 occurred on 15 April.

A further 17 people in Northern Ireland have died in hospital settings with coronavirus in the past day, the Public Health Agency said.

This brings the total number of confirmed deaths in hospital settings in the region to 193.

Public Health Wales has announced a further 28 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities in Wales to 534.

The new deaths, by health board area, are: five in Aneurin Bevan, one in Cardiff and Vale, 19 in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and two in Swansea Bay, with one death elsewhere in Wales.

A total of 893 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland have died, a rise of 56 on Friday’s figure, according to the Scottish Government.

Across the country, 38,233 people have now been tested for Covid-19, with 7,820 testing positive.

As of 9am on 18 April, 15,464 people have died in UK hospitals after testing positive for Covid-19, the Department of Health and Social Care said. That is a rise of 888, up from 14,576 the day before.

As of 9am on Saturday, 357,023 people had been tested, of which 114,217 proved positive. Overall, 460,437 tests have been done, with 21,389 tests on Friday, excluding data from Northern Ireland.

As of 9am 18 April, 460,437 tests have concluded, with 21,389 tests on 17 April.

357,023 people have been tested of which 114,217 tested positive.

As of 5pm on 17 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 15,464 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/yZmas1wSvS

Rachel Harrison, national officer of the GMB union, has said that faith in the health secretary, Matt Hancock, is “draining away” after Public Health England changed its personal protective equipment guidance on Friday.

Harrison told PA Media the union raised critical protective equipment supply issues with the government more than a month ago.

It took until last Friday for ministers’ PPE plan to be published, and it’s falling apart after just a week. It is key workers on the frontline who are paying the price for this litany of failure.

It appears government guidance is being hastily redrawn based on availability, not on evidence or best practice. This is downright dangerous territory and one that will amplify the concerns of NHS staff.

A campaign to thank NHS staff for their work during the coronavirus crisis has raised £1m.

More than 200,000 people have supported the OneMillionClaps campaign in a week by donating £5 to send a personal message of support to NHS workers.

Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, whose brands include Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, could permanently shut some of its shops as the coronavirus pandemic puts pressure on high street retailers.

The fashion group has served notice on its landlords to walk away from stores whose leases have rolling breaks or are due to expire.

Related: Arcadia Group may permanently shut down stores amid Covid-19 crisis

Undocumented migrants are being deterred from seeking medical attention during the coronavirus pandemic for fear of being reported to immigration authorities, MPs have said.

A cross-party group of 60 MPs has written to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, calling for the suspension of healthcare charges for migrants and NHS data sharing with immigration enforcement.

The government must listen to frontline health workers and medical organisations calling for immediate action to stop people being deterred from healthcare.

The NHS was founded on the idea that healthcare should be available to all who need it, regardless of where they’re from or their ability to pay.

Unapproved antibody tests could increase people’s risk of becoming infected with coronavirus, the UK’s national testing coordinator has said.

Countries around the globe are scrambling to develop reliable antibody tests that can detect if people have had the virus and may be immune in the hope that it might allow lockdown restrictions to be eased, but efforts so far have been unsuccessful.

Related: Unverified antibody tests 'risk increasing coronavirus infections'

Tributes have been paid to a staff member at Greater Manchester police who died after contracting Covid-19.

Marcia Pryce, 61, died on 2 April. She had worked for the force for more than 30 years, most recently in its intelligence bureau.

Marcia was a powerhouse, a positive influence in my life and the lives of the many people she knew and loved.

She didn’t have children of her own, but she had more godchildren than we can count and they meant so much to her. Many are now adults but still refer to her lovingly as ‘Aunty Marce’.

Hundreds of Britons stuck in Bangladesh will be repatriated after the government chartered four flights as part of a new push to to bring more than 7,000 UK citizens home from South Asia.

Those deemed most at risk from coronavirus, such as the sick and elderly, will be given priority, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.

Booking is open for the first @UKinBangladesh flights from Dhaka, starting on Tuesday 21 April, to bring Brits back to the UK from Bangladesh . All four flights next week have accompanying transfers from Sylhet. For booking details see: https://t.co/rQ0ZAVVLsu.

This is from ITV’s Robert Peston.

This is the best measure I’ve seen of quite how few #COVID19 tests the UK has done. It is an international league table of countries ranked by percentage of population tested, compiled by Julian Ozanne (who was on FT with me in another life). The UK comes 20th out of 20 pic.twitter.com/pvJaMe3GH6

Thank you so much to everybody who has been in touch throughout the morning with tips and suggestions. I love reading through them all, especially the ones thanking the Guardian for its coverage of this crisis. Please do continue to get in touch as the day goes on via the usual channels (below) and apologies if I cannot respond to you all individually.

Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_

This, from the FT’s Peter Foster, is one of the best things you will read today. In essence:

The government needs to show some HUMILITY. It needs to LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW STUFF. I think this is a clear example of where it did not.

NEW: The inside story of the Ventilator Challenge - the muddled thinking, the wasted time the political egoism. It's a mad tale. Stay with me. Me with my superb @ft colleague @Michael_Pooler 1/Threadhttps://t.co/5SNI7QbzAU

DC John Coker has died in hospital after coming down with symptoms of coronavirus on 22 March, British Transport Police said.

In a statement, BTP Chief Constable Paul Crowther said his thoughts were with Coker’s family after the 53-year-old passed away last night following an “incredibly difficult” three weeks. He said:

John was taken ill on 22 March with symptoms of coronavirus. After his health did not improve he was admitted to hospital and transferred to an intensive care unit to receive critical treatment. Despite the best efforts of hospital staff, John’s health did not improve, and he passed away on 17 April.

John has been part of the BTP family for over a decade and became a detective constable within the CID department at Euston where he was much loved and respected by all those he worked with. His colleagues remember a man who was charismatic, kind and thoughtful and took everything in his stride. He will be greatly missed by all in the force.

It's with great sadness that we're reporting the death of an officer due to Covid-19.

DC John Coker, 53, passed away last night. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.

John will be greatly missed across the Force https://t.co/FU7pa534IG pic.twitter.com/nECnfVjaWg

NHS frontline staff may refuse to work if there is not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety, the UK’s biggest union has warned.

The warning came in response to new guidance from Public Health England, revealed by the Guardian on Friday, which instructs healthcare workers to reuse disposable PPE. The guidelines also recommended that medics wear aprons if they are unable to access full-length gowns, and there are concerns that some PPE supplies are close to running out.

If gowns run out, staff in high-risk areas may well decide that it’s no longer safe for them to work.

No part of the NHS should use this move as an excuse to ration supplies of gowns when they still have stocks. That would cause a damaging breakdown of trust at a time when staff are working under intense pressure.

Related: NHS frontline staff may refuse to work over lack of PPE, says union

The Queen’s birthday on Tuesday will not be marked by gun salutes for what is believed will be the first time, due to the coronavirus crisis, PA Media news agency reports.

A Buckingham Palace source said the Queen’s 94th birthday will not be marked in any special way, adding that any calls with family will be kept private. The source said:

There will be no gun salutes - Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances.

This is from the foreign secretary (or rather, his son).

Lockdown art from my 7 year old ... pic.twitter.com/TgcypTksmV

The government’s programme to release up to 4,000 low-risk prisoners early to help jails cope with coronavirus has been paused after six inmates were freed by mistake.

The inmates were candidates for early release but were let out too soon because of an “administrative error”, the Ministry of Justice said. After the flaw was spotted, they all “returned compliantly to prison”, a spokeswoman added.

Related: UK coronavirus prison plan suspended after six mistakenly released

These errors must not be used as an excuse for inaction in the face on an oncoming public health disaster. Prisons are overcrowded, with thousands of cells containing more than one inmate, against the advice of Public Health England.

If the Ministry of Justice does not take sufficient steps to move towards single cell occupancy, it is not only inmates and prison officers who will be put at risk. NHS Hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed and the virus will spread rapidly from prisons across the wider public.

The culture secretary Oliver Dowden has asked the public to “add one small thing” to their to-do list and buy a newspaper as the press grapples “with the biggest existential crisis in its history”.

The newspaper business has come under increasing strain amid the coronavirus pandemic, with falling advertising revenue and declining circulation.

Human trials of a potential vaccine have begun at Oxford University and trials could be completed by mid-August, Prof John Bell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

Bell, who is a member of the government’s vaccine taskforce, said the possibility of a vaccine being produced by the autumn depended on efficacy. He said:

[The question is] will it protect people, and that has not been tested, and it will only be tested once you have vaccinated a significant number of people and exposed them to the virus and counted how many people have got the virus in that population.

So, we won’t even get a signal for that until May. But if things go on course and it does have efficacy, then I think it is reasonable to think that they would be able to complete their trial by mid-August.

One of the reasons that we were rushing is to try and catch this wave of the disease.

Because when the disease goes away there will be very, very few cases until we get a second wave.

Good morning everybody. Thousands of doctors and nurses are concerned about inadequate supplies of personal protection equipment (PPE) amid fears some hospitals could run out entirely this weekend.

A British Medical Association survey of more than 6,000 doctors across the country said a significant amount of them remain without the protection they need to guard against Covid-19. Meanwhile another survey by the Royal College of Nursing found half of nurses have felt pressure to work without appropriate protective equipment during the crisis.

Guardian front page, Saturday 18 April 2020: NHS staff told ‘wear aprons’ as protective gowns run out pic.twitter.com/ZHP8jnDt9a

Related: NHS staff told 'wear aprons' as protective gowns run out

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