UK COVID-19 deaths pass 19,500

British health authorities announced on Friday that the UK-wide death toll from coronavirus increased by 684 in 24 hours.

The Department of Health reported: “444,222 people have been tested of which 143,464 tested positive.

“As of 5pm on 23 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 19,506 have sadly died.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still recovering from coronavirus, as speculation mounts as to when he will return to work.

Earlier in the day, his spokesman said: “He is speaking with colleagues and he is receiving regular updates, but in terms of when he is actually able to get back to work in No 10, he will take the advice of his medical team on that.

“He is receiving updates on the response and he has been taking part in the call with the (US) president and had his audience with Her Majesty but he’s not doing red box (PM’s work) in the usual way.”

A secret, 600-page document leaked to the Guardian newspaper warned that even a mild pandemic could be fatal for tens of thousands. Released internally last year, it recommended stockpiling PPE, and creating ways to carry out contact tracing.

Critics have accused the government of being slow on both these issues.

A website set up by the government to allow essential workers to order home testing kits buckled under demand just hours after opening Friday morning.

The Department of Health tweeted: “There has been significant demand for booking tests today. We apologise for any inconvenience. We are continuing to rapidly increase availability. More tests will be available tomorrow.”

The government has been accused of being too slow to test frontline health workers, essential workers, and the wider population.

It has set a target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month, though local media have reported the government still has a considerable way to go until meeting that target.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed nearly 195,000 people, with total infections exceeding 2.7 million, while more than 762,000 have recovered, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.