Lancashire’s coronavirus cases and deaths as second spike expected

There are now 4,837 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the whole of Lancashire.

A further eight cases were confirmed yesterday afternoon (June 11) by Public Health England, with the vast majority – some 3,752 – in the area managed by Lancashire County Council.

There were seven new cases in the area run by the county council, which includes Preston, Lancaster, Morecambe, Wyre, Lytham St Annes, Chorley, Leyland, Ribble Valley, Skelmersdale, Burnley, Accrington, and Colne.

Cases remained unchanged in Blackpool, remaining at 668.

Blackburn with Darwen saw one new confirmed case of Covid-19, bringing its total to 417.

A total of 935 people with the virus have now lost their lives in the county after three further deaths were confirmed by Lancashire’s hospital trusts.

One person lost their life under the care of the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust on June 7, which runs Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Burnley General Teaching Hospital.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley Hospital, recorded one death on June 6.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust’s death toll increase by one after a patient died on June 9. The trust manages Royal Lancaster Infirmary as well as a number of sites in Cumbria.

No deaths were recorded Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.

The total number of coronavirus-related deaths at each trust now stands at 210 in Blackpool, 194, at East Lancashire Hospitals, 223 at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, 143 in Southport and Ormskirk, and 165 at Morecambe Bay.

Nationally, a total of 41,279 deaths have now been confirmed, with 291,409 people testing positive for the virus.

A total of 6,240,801 people have been tested.

It comes as a group of family members of coronavirus victims has reportedly called for an immediate public inquiry into the crisis.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group, which consists of 450 relatives of people who have died during the pandemic, has told the BBC an urgent review was necessary to limit the ongoing effects of the coronavirus crisis and prevent more deaths.

The group’s lawyer Elkan Abrahamson told the broadcaster an early inquiry should be held prior to any complete formal proceeding, which is expected to take place once the pandemic is over.

“What we need to look at straightaway are the issues which are life-and-death decisions,” he said.

“We expect there will be a second spike. We want to know what the Government is going to do when that happens.”

The group’s request comes after Scotland’s former chief scientific adviser Professor Dame Anne Glover said an inquiry must be held before a second wave of the virus hits the UK.

Prof Glover, who is now president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, last week said: “Given that second wave is likely to come at a time that is likely to coincide with seasonal influenza, and that would give us serious problems, we really need to understand what the failings have been in our apparent inability to be able to deal with this pandemic appropriately.

“Where failures have happened, [we need to understand] why have the failures happened and how can we avoid those failures in the future.

“This inquiry needs to be delivering in a matter of months, not a matter of years, because the purpose of it is to ensure we do not make the same mistakes should we get a second wave of the virus.”

She added: “Nobody’s perfect and it is OK to make a mistake but it would be inexcusable to make the same mistake twice.”

A Government spokesperson said: “At some point in the future there will be an opportunity for us to look back, to reflect and to learn some profound lessons.

“But at the moment, the most important thing to do is to focus on responding to the current situation.”