COVID-19 deaths in U.S. top 50,000

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States topped 50,000 as of 11 a.m. on Friday (1500 GMT), reaching 50,031, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 870,468 cases have been reported in the country, according to the CSSE.

With regard to UK, snother 684 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in hospitals in Britain as of Thursday afternoon, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 19,506, the Department of Health and Social Care said Friday.

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As of Friday morning, 143,464 people have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a daily increase of 5,386, said the department.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that from Friday, “any essential workers who need a test will be able to book an appointment on GOV.UK themselves directly.

This all applies for people in essential workers’ households too who need a test.”

However earlier in day, within hours of launching, the online application system temporarily closed following huge demand.  

Source: Xinhua