UK coronavirus death toll crosses 11,000, lockdown set to continue

By Aditi Khanna(Eds: Updating with more details)

London, Apr 13 () Britain reported another 717 deaths in a single day, bringing the fatalities from coronavirus to 11,329, as the government indicated that the strict social distancing measures which entered a fourth week on Monday are unlikely to be eased up any time soon.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers after testing positive for coronavirus, said the Cabinet would be reviewing the impact of the lockdown measures later this week but no easing up in the measures is expected right away.

"Some positive signs from the data is that we are starting to win this struggle but we are still not past the peak of this crisis," Raab said during the daily Downing Street briefing.

He said the Cabinet would review the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) assessment of the impact of the social distancing measures later this week but no changes are expected in the measures currently in place at that point.

He added: "We won't until we're confident, as confident as we realistically can be, that any such changes can be safely made.

"If we let up now, the virus will only take full advantage. It will spread faster and it will kill more people. If we refuse to give into it, if we keep up this incredible team effort, we will beat this virus and we will come through this national test. Our plan is working, please stick with it and we will get through it together."

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, said during the briefing that he expects the death toll in the UK to increase this week before "plateauing".

"I think this week we are going to see a further increase, thereafter we should see a plateau as the effects of social-distancing come through. That plateau may last for some time and begin to decrease," he said. AK ZHZH