UK health leaders call for government to seek total elimination

Scientists predict 43 to 84 people will still be dying from Covid-19 every day by mid-August

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Scientists advising the government have predicted that between 43 and 84 people will still be dying from Covid-19 every day by mid-August, as health leaders called on the government to adopt a zero Covid" approach and seek total elimination of the virus.

On Wednesday, the government's official dashboard showed 83 Covid-19 associated deaths and 763 newly lab-confirmed infections. Modellers from the MRC Biostatistics Unit at Cambridge University, however, estimate that there are far more new cases - approximately 3,000 a day - and that deaths will stay high for weeks to come.