Dominic Raab admits coronavirus numbers are ‘bleak’ – as death toll reaches 7,978

They are “bleak numbers”, the Foreign Secretary admitted, as 7,978 people in the UK have been listed as dying in hospital with Covid-19 so far. The real total will be much higher.

Amongst the dead are doctors and nurses who have been at the forefront of the fight against the virus. The increase in the number of NHS staff dying has again prompted the question of whether the protective equipment they need is getting to them fast enough.