Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Six-week-old baby among UK deaths as New York vows to investigate Covid-19 impact on children
More than 211,000 people have tested positive for virus in UK, figures show
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Your support makes all the difference.The coronavirus crisis is continuing to impact the lives of people all over the world. Britons have been urged to keep following lockdown restrictions as the virus has infected a total of 211,364 people, with 31,241 deaths in the UK.
Here is your daily briefing of coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.
Six-week old baby among latest UK coronavirus deaths
A six-week-old infant has died after catching coronavirus in a hospital in England.
The baby is believed to be the youngest person to have died in the UK after testing positive for the virus.
NHS England announced the death of the infant, who had a pre-existing health condition, in a hospital in England on Friday.
People of all ages with underlying health problems are believed to be at higher risk from the effects of the virus.
The youngest victim with no known underlying health issues was Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who died in March aged just 13.
Queen says she is ‘proud’ of nation’s response to coronavirus during VE Day speech
The Queen has praised how the UK has responded to the Covid-19 outbreak as she addressed the nation on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
In a pre-recorded message from Windsor Castle, Elisabeth II remembered the sacrifices of the Second World War generation, and touched upon the current pandemic the UK is facing.
“When I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire,” she said.
“Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.”
She continued: “But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other.”
Data on deaths in mental health and learning disability units will now be published, NHS announces
The NHS will start reporting the number of coronavirus-related deaths in mental health and learning disability units, according to the government.
Stephen Powis, England’s national medical director, said at Friday’s daily press briefing the figures would be made public on an “ongoing basis”.
It comes as data from the Care Quality Commission showed a sharp rise in the number of deaths among mental health patients compared to last year.
Asked by The Independent whether the numbers could be made public, he replied: “Yes, I can commit that we will publish that data.”
He said: “We’ve been looking at how we can do that; we publish deaths daily, we’re looking at how we can report on those groups and I can commit that from next week we’ll be publishing data on learning disabilities, autism, and mental health patients who have died in acute hospitals and we will do that on an ongoing basis.”
New York to investigate Covid-19 impact on children after death of five-year-old
New York state have said they will investigate how coronavirus affects children.
The move comes after a five-year-old died from complications thought to be related to Covid-19.
“While rare, we are seeing some cases where children affected with the Covid virus can become ill with symptoms similar to the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome that literally causes inflammation in their blood vessels,” Mr Cuomo said.
“So this is every parent’s nightmare, right? That your child may actually be affected by this virus,” he added. “But it’s something we have to consider seriously now.”
Health authorities said they initially believed children would go largely unaffected by Covid-19.
The EU should keep external borders closed until at least mid-June, EU commission says
Member states of the European Union should not open their external borders for non-essential travel until mid-June, according to the European Commission.
The EU’s executive urged leaders to extend the travel ban already in place for another 30 days.
“The overall objective of limiting the spread of coronavirus via reduced social interaction remains,” said Margaritis Schinas, vice-president for Promoting our European Way of Life.
Despite progress in many European countries, the situation worldwide is very fragile. It is imperative that any action taken is gradual, with different measures being lifted in different phases.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
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