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UPDATE 2-UK coronavirus deaths top 1,000 as country steps up testing

Sat, 28th Mar 2020 13:11

* Deaths rise by 260 to 1,019

* Britain increasing coronavirus testing for health workers

* Temporary testing unit opens at theme park

* Scotland minister isolating with mild symptoms

* PM Johnson, health minister Hancock have tested positive
(Updates number of deaths and positive tests)

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Medical workers in England on
the front line of the coronavirus pandemic started to be tested
on Saturday as the number of COVID-19 deaths in Britain topped
1,000 after a record 260 people died in the previous 24 hours.

Government figures showed 1,019 people had died as of 1700
GMT on Friday, while the number of confirmed cases stood at
17,089 on Saturday morning, up 17.5% on a day earlier.

Britain is bracing for the epidemic to peak in the coming
weeks, and is building field hospitals in London, Birmingham,
Manchester and Cardiff to bolster the response from its
state-run National Health Service (NHS).

The government, which had been criticised by some doctors
and nurses for not providing them with enough protective gear
and testing kits, announced on Friday it was introducing a much
bigger testing regime, with checks for health workers in
England.

Frontline medical staff in Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland are already being tested.

The country is largely on lockdown, with Britons urged to
stay home. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and health minister Matt
Hancock are among those who have tested positive.

The minister for Scotland, Alister Jack, said on Saturday he
had developed a mild temperature and a cough in the past 24
hours and was now working from home in isolation. He has not
been tested for coronavirus.

He spoke in the House of Commons on Wednesday, immediately
before Johnson appeared at the weekly Prime Minister's Questions
session, during which Jack was seated on the government bench
behind Johnson.

Efforts were under way to keep building up the NHS's
capacity to cope with the epidemic.

A drive-through coronavirus testing facility for health
workers has begun operating at a popular resort near London.

The Chessington World of Adventures theme park, which
usually hosts families seeking a fun day out, has turned one of
its car parks into a testing unit for NHS staff, a spokeswoman
said on Saturday.

MORE HOSPITALS

Health workers, who remain in their cars, are tested by
nurses who carry out swabs in the nose and mouth through the
windows.

"We are proud to be able to offer our assistance to the NHS
during this unprecedented time," the theme park said in a
statement.

The government said on Friday it was partnering companies
including Thermo Fisher Scientific, Randox and Boots, and top UK
universities, to scale up the testing regime.

The first of three new hub laboratories that are being put
into place is expected to process around 800 samples over the
weekend. The number of tests being processed will then rise
dramatically, according to the health ministry.

The NHS is also setting up four new temporary hospitals in
London, Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff. At the enormous
Excel Centre events venue in east London, large numbers of
ambulances and paramedics were on site on Saturday ahead of the
facility's opening next week.

The government also said it was starting to deliver food
boxes to people deemed at high risk from the illness, who have
been advised by the NHS to stay at home for 12 weeks.

In what it described as the biggest effort to deliver
supplies to those in need since World War Two, the ministry of
housing, communities and local government said the first of
50,000 free food boxes containing items such as pasta and tinned
goods would be delivered over the weekend.

Some 1.5 million clinically vulnerable people have been
advised to shield themselves at home for 12 weeks.

Like many other countries, Britain has brought in strict
social distancing measures.

People have been instructed to stay at home, going out only
to buy food or medicines or for exercise once a day. Schools,
shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes are closed and anyone who can
work from home is expected to do so.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Paul Sandle; editing by
Frances Kerry and Giles Elgood)

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