Excess deaths in India are measure of overall impact of pandemic; mainland China records 65 new cases, highest since January
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UK prime minister Boris Johnson denied the NHS would be overwhelmed and said he was not prepared to lock down the country to save people in their 80s, texting his adviser “get Covid and live longer”, according to new WhatsApp messages released by Dominic Cummings.
In his first TV interview, the prime minister’s former chief adviser said Johnson held out on reimposing Covid restrictions because “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80”.
I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities. The median age is 82 – 81 for men 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and live longer. Hardly anyone under 60 goes into hospital (4 per cent) and of those virtually all survive. And I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff. Folks I think we may need to recalibrate.”
Related: Dominic Cummings tells BBC Johnson denied Covid would overwhelm NHS
Daily new coronavirus cases in Iran have reached record heights, even as Tehran and its surroundings went into lockdown, a week-long measure imposed amid another surge in the pandemic.
AP reports that the country’s health ministry announced 27,444 new cases and 250 deaths over the past day, bringing the overall death toll to 87,624 from among more than 3.5 million confirmed cases in the pandemic.
