UK coronavirus death toll now hits 200000

The number of deaths from the COVID-19 contagion in the United Kingdom rose by more than 1000 to 20070 government data showed on Tuesday as the number of positive tests over the past fortnight hit a post-1000-day high in the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the same panicky message he delivered on Aug. 19 is the reason he chose to stay in Britain and that he will stay in hard-hit Italy for the time being as his government starts to rethink its contracting reopening plans.

So lets be honest I have been living with the misconception that I am in the real world the problem solver Johnson told BBC radio.

So as health and the systems begin to adjust quickly to this new set of challenges we will have to deal with the facts we all face well have to deal with it and tell you the truth.

However Johnson began offering an olive branch to those scornful journalists at his daily prime-time briefing on Tuesday.

Asked if he had watched Englands FA Cup fourth-round playoff defeat to Italy he said: No I havent with a smile.

In the first seven months of April the number of tests accepted by the national test helpline at any one time was around 4000 tests a day.

A Reuters analysis in May found that the number of people tested positive for the COVID-19 respiratory disease rose to more than 10000-10000 tests a day in April compared with around 2000 cases in May.

England has now reached average annual test-scale of 20000 tests a day compared with 9000 in May last year.

The British testing system has made it difficult for the public to access the information they need but Health Secretary Matt Hancock has insisted he was determined to shed light on the real headcount – about 6. 7 million – of coronavirus deaths.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Johnson said he was not for one second worried about the immortality of the coronavirus: I want to go back to my dreams