Confirmed COVID-19 cases hit almost 30,000 in UK

LONDON: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 29,474 as of Wednesday morning, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.

As of Monday afternoon, 1,789 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died, up 381 over the same time on the previous day, the latest figures from the department showed.

About 10,767 people in England have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, with the majority in London, where 3,915 people are in hospital care, said Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove during Tuesday's Downing Street press conference.

Britain's testing capacity is critically constrained due to a shortage of the chemical reagents that are necessary in the testing, and the government are working with companies worldwide to get the material to increase tests of all kinds, said Gove.

Britain currently have just over 8,000 ventilators deployed in NHS (National Health Service) hospitals and is buying more from abroad while developing new sources of supply at home, said Gove.

Co-chairing the conference with Gove, Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said the rate of hospitalisation is currently increasing, which is expected at this stage.

But if social contact continues to decline, so will also the number of hospitalisations. China over time has flattened the curve and the number of deaths has reduced, he told reporters.

"We are not out of the woods, we are very much in the woods. So green shoots but only green shoots and we must not be complacent and we must not take our foot off the pedal," said Powis.

In another development, the British government has signed new contracts with train operators Southeastern and Great Western Railway to ensure vital train services continue to connect the south of England and Wales during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Long-term capacity improvements have also been agreed as part of the contracts, according to the Department for Transport.