Coronavirus deaths drop to new low in UK with 449 fatalities in 24 hours; 16,509 dead

Britain recorded the lowest coronavirus death toll in a fortnight with 449 people dying of the virus in the past 24 hours.

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The total death toll due to the virus has now reached 16,509 with 125,850 cases reported nationwide.

Authorities, however, saw a glimmer of hope as the cases continued to decline. Britain last week had extended the lockdown by three weeks as the virus continued to take a toll with health services stretched to the limit.

There is growing pressure on the government to reopen but Education minister Gavin Williamson refused to set a date on the opening schools as the country struggled with the pandemic.

Health workers have repeatedly complained about the lack of personal protective equipment(PPE) even as Johnson's government has been criticised by various quarters for being late to react even as ministers reiterated that the prime minister was "on top of things".

The government had announced earlier that Paul Deighton, ex- London Olympics chief has been appointed to lead the effort to domestically produce PPE even as a shortage of gowns has made matters difficult for health workers.

According to a charity, the number of people killed by coronavirus in Britain's care homes could be as high as 7,500.