Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: UK economy shrinks at fastest pace in more than a decade as army of unpaid volunteers recruited to carry out Covid-19 tests across UK

The British public continues life under lockdown as changes to the rules in England make it legal to exercise or meet in a public space “with one member of another household” from Wednesday.

Some 226,463 have tested positive for coronavirus and 32,692 have died with Covid-19, as of Tuesday.

Here is your daily briefing on the coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.

UK economy shrinks at fastest pace in more than a decade in first three months of year

The UK economy contracted at its fastest pace since the financial crisis during the first quarter of 2020, the Office for National Statistics has said.

With the country placed into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, gross domestic product shrank by 2 per cent in the three months to March.

February to March saw a record 5.8 per cent contraction.

The latest figures show the first direct effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK economy.

Army of unpaid volunteers being recruited to carry out tests across UK

An army of unpaid volunteers is being recruited to carry out coronavirus tests across the country as ministers try to hit their target of 200,000 a day, The Independent has reported.

They are being asked to sign up to work at least 32 hours a week, swabbing the noses and throats of people who may be infected, for no pay.

The high-street chemist Boots is advertising the roles across the country, with the support of ministers.

However, a leading trade union and opposition politicians have criticised the move, accusing ministers of taking advantage of the goodwill of the public.

Lockdown easing could see tens of thousands of excess deaths if vulnerable not protected, study suggests

Measures to ease the lockdown in the UK could lead to tens of thousands of extra deaths if vulnerable people are not sufficiently protected and health care systems are put under strain, a study has suggested.

Boris Johnson announced the first step towards normalcy — allowing unlimited exercise, one on one outdoor social meetings and a return to work for those who cannot do so at home — against a background of flattening infection numbers and fatalities caused by the virus.

However in a study published in medical journal The Lancet, research led by University College London (UCL) has warned between 37,000 and 730,000 excess deaths could take place due to the direct and indirect effects of the virus within a year.

Bosses risk criminal prosecution if they try to force employees to work without adequate protection

Bosses have been warned they risk criminal prosecution if they try to force employees to work without adequate protection against coronavirus.

The warning came on the eve of the return to work called for by Boris Johnson in his strategy for relaxing lockdown restrictions.

Business secretary Alok Sharma promised that the government would be “looking out for” workers, and urged anyone who feels their workplace is not safe to contact the Health and Safety Executive.

And the HSE’s chief executive Sarah Albon said her inspectors will be ready to issue enforcement notices requiring employers to cease dangerous practices or take additional protective action, with the sanction of criminal prosecution if they are ignored.

Thousands of deaths ‘exported’ into communities after NHS shutdown, warn experts

Thousands of deaths have been “exported” to community settings from hospitals as a result of the NHS shutting down routine services during the coronavirus outbreak, one of Britain’s leading statisticians has said.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter said there had been a “staggering” 30,000 more deaths than normal in places such as care homes and private homes during the eight weeks since the coronavirus outbreak in the UK started, with only about 10,000 of those deaths attributed to Covid-19 on death certificates.

Sir David, professor of public understanding of risk at the University of Cambridge, said the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed a decrease in non-Covid deaths in hospitals at the same time as the large rise in the community.

He said this indicated about 6,000 deaths that were “exported back to the community because of the closure of the hospitals”.

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk