Coronavirus deaths in Britain hit 71 with 45-year-old youngest killed – and 55k ‘likely infected’

CORONAVIRUS deaths in Britain today hit 71 with a 45-year-old the youngest killed - amid fears 55,000 may have the deadly bug.

Health authorities confirmed a shocking 14 more deaths in England over the past 24 hours, with Scotland and Wales also recording two more tragic fatalities.

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Shockingly, the UK’s youngest coronavirus victim was tonight named as 45-year-old Craig Ruston.

The "amazing" father-of-two, from Kettering, Northants, who had motor neurone disease, succumbed to the killer bug in hospital yesterday.

Craig's wife Sally broke news of the death on her husband's Facebook page ‘Me and my MND’.

She said: “My amazing Craig passed away yesterday morning at 6.20am. We are truly heartbroken.

"Craig’s chest infection was confirmed as Covid-19."

Among the other coronavirus victims was a 93-year-old. All had underlying health conditions.

YOUNGEST VICTIM

The current death toll now stands at 71 - with half of England's fatalities reported today in London alone.

Coronavirus cases exploded by 407 to 1,950 today -  a chilling 26 per cent jump in what is the biggest daily increase yet.

It comes as the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance issued a stark warning that 55,000 may be infected.

Last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a string of drastic measures to tackle the virus - telling Brits to work from home and to avoid all non-essential contact.

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And he today warned more "extreme measures" may be needed to protect lives in the future, saying without drastic action the NHS would be "overwhelmed".

Boris declared: "We must act like any war-time government and do whatever it takes to support our economy."

PM Boris had previously cautioned the number of cases could DOUBLE every five or six days if Britain doesn't take "draconian" action now.

Brits now face 18 months in limbo waiting for a vaccine and restricted by the significant changes to daily life.

Speaking today, Sir Patrick said he feared 55k Brits could already have been struck down with the virus but "hoped" the death toll could stay below 20,000.

He said: "Below that is a good outcome in terms of where we would hope to get to with this outbreak. It is still horrible. That is still an enormous number of deaths."

He added: "I don't think any of us have seen anything like this. This is the first not just in a generation, but in 100 years."

The PM announced major crackdown rules including:

• Whole families with symptoms such as a cough or a temperature should stay at home for TWO WEEKS to stop spreading it on to anyone else
• From tomorrow, the Government will no longer support mass gatherings either, meaning concerts and all major sporting events are likely to be cancelled
• Pregnant women will be told to avoid social contact with others too - sparking fresh fears for anyone expecting
• The PM refused to rule out drastic curfews like in other countries
• London is at the centre of the outbreak and was ahead of the rest of the country
• Schools will stay open for now - but they will be told to send kids with a cough home to stop the spread

Today it was announced the Ministry of Defence is planning to deploy 4,000 medics to help the struggling NHS deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

NHS England is now suspending non-urgent elective surgery in a bid to free up beds for coronavirus patients.

Operations are expected to be suspended from April 15 for at least three months, NHS executive Sir Simon Stevens said.

He added: "In readiness for the likely influx of more coronavirus patients, we are going to be taking concerted action across the NHS... up to a third of the general and acute beds - perhaps 30,000 of those general and acute beds - for coronavirus patients."

Chancellor Rishi Sunak today vowed an "unprecedented" £330 billion in government guarantees as he said Britain had "never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this."

GPs, surgeons and nurses are being lined up as part of drastic measures to stop the spread of the killer bug.

It is feared many businesses will not survive the lockdown, as customers stay at home.

Today the UK Association of British Insurers said in a statement standard business insurance would not cover forced closures by authorities due to COVID-19.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock described it as "the most serious public health emergency that our nation has faced for a generation".

Confirming the rise in deaths in a statement to the Commons today, he said: "Our goal is to protect life.

"Our actions have meant that the spread of the virus has been slowed in the UK and I want to pay tribute to the officials at Public Health England and the NHS for their exemplary approach to contact tracing and their work so far.

"However, the disease is now accelerating and 55 have sadly now died. Our hearts across this whole House go out to their families."

Researchers warned 260,000 people could have died without the new drastic government measures brought in last night.

In dramatic actions not seen since World War Two, the PM ramped up Britain's battleplan yesterday - shutting down mass gatherings and urging everyone to stop non-essential travel and contact with others.

Boris said that means all Brits (around 66million people) staying out of pubs, clubs, theatres and cinemas for weeks - and potentially months into the summer. All who can can should work from home, he said.

The over 70s, those who are pregnant, and anyone with underlying health conditions (around 20million Brits) should try not to leave their homes if they can, and avoid crowded spaces immediately.

This will continue for the "long haul" - likely weeks or months.

And those with severe illnesses like cancer (around 1.4million Brits) must start cocooning themselves in their homes and get food delivered in from this weekend.

Professor Neil Ferguson, director of the MRC centre at Imperial, said today the UK is three weeks behind Italy, warning there was "no time to lose" as the NHS will be "overwhelmed many times over" in the fight against COVID-19.

He added the government got the timing of the lockdown "just about right" as it became unavoidable to no longer take stronger action.

The Imperial report found the best course of action was a Chinese-style "suppression" policy implementing social distancing for the entire population.

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Levelling with a worried nation in a dramatic No10 press conference, Boris said: "Clearly what we’re announcing today is a very substantial change in the way we want people to live their lives, and I can’t remember anything like it in my lifetime.

"I don’t think there’s really been anything like it in peacetime.

"It’s a very considerable, psychological, behavioural change that we’re asking you, we’re asking the public, the nation to do.

"But I’ve absolutely no doubt that we can do it, that we can do it together."

But a lack of advice for schools amid the coronavirus pandemic is creating "chaos and confusion" and placing "intolerable pressure" on staff, a teachers' union warned.

The NASUWT, which represents teachers and head teachers, said there was a "rising sense of panic" as it called for a definitive decision on how to protect staff and pupils.

Mr Johnson stopped short of announcing school closures as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures to try to control the spread of Covid-19 on Monday.

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It came as President Emmanuel Macron last night announced a total shutdown of France with its borders closed and all social gatherings banned from today.

The lockdown will be enforceable by law - unlike in Britain.

And Donald Trump recommended a drastic shutdown of the US too - with the President even considering a nationwide curfew.

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