Pandemic highlights health inequalities
Black people are nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
public health
£1.6bn care boost to free hospital beds
Patients who no longer need urgent hospital treatment will be helped to return home, making at least 30,000 beds available during the coronavirus outbreak, after councils received £1.6 billion in extra funding.
Frontline worker tests
All essential workers in England – and members of their household – will now be eligible for coronavirus tests, it was announced as first was going to press.
Latest ONS statistics
Around one in six coronavirus-related deaths occurred outside hospitals – including in care homes – according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures.