A key moment today.

More than 50,000 official deaths?

Yes.

So that very grim milestone, as you say today, Kirsty.

And if we look at this graphic, we can now see that the UK has become the first European country to record more than 50,000 deaths.

There you are 50,365.

And this is according to the most widely accepted definition, which is death within 28 days off a positive test on what took us over the line.

There were 595 deaths reported in the last 24 hour period.

Now, how do these figures compare with other countries around the world?

So if we look at this graph, we can see that in terms of actual death, the U.

K is there it is.

It's in fifth place in the world with, as we said, the highest numbers in Europe.

It's important to say that countries do not record their numbers in the same way, so you cannot make exact comparisons.

But let's look at another graphic on what this does is that this looks at deaths on the most widely accepted measurement that is the number of deaths per 100,000 people, 100,000 population on on that.

The UK comes in some way behind Spain, but just in front off the United States.

Now on that 50,000 milestone, this is what Boris Johnson had to say.

Every every death is a tragedy.

We mourn everybody who's gone andare feelings with their families on friends as well.

Um, it is, ah, global pandemic, whose effects whose treatments whose implications for the economy have you know, alot those have bean becoming clearer and clearer is the months have gone on.

I do think that we've got now to a different phase in the way that way.

Treat it, Andi, After the these tough water measures which I hope people will stick to really, really originally, as far a zit, possibly can, uh, we're very much hoping that two things will start to come to our aid number one.

The mass testing that kind.

I just described the rapid turnaround testing on then.

The other thing is now the prospect, the realistic prospect of a vaccine.

So you have a kind of, as it were to boxing gloves toe pummel the the disease in the weeks and months that followed the prime minister well.

Later in the program, we were discussing the resignation off Boris Johnson's director of communications, Lee Cain, with our political panel.

But first, let's look at the UK s covert response and greater detail.

Joining me is the former government scientific adviser and current member of Sage Professor Some art Walpert on from Sheffield, Dr Daniel Bride and the vice dean of the faculty of Intensive Care Medicine.

Daniel treats patients with covered in the intensive care unit on.

We also have Jamie Brown, whose father, Tony Brown, died in covered 19 during the first lock down in Colchester.

Now we did ask the government to speak, but it declined to talk to us tonight.

A good evening to you all, Jamie Brown.

If I can begin with you, we talk about a figure of 50 0 plus.

But of course, every life lost is devastating for a family.

And I wonder if you could tell us what happened to your dad.

Yeah, Thanks.

Um, yes.

And what has Tony Brown passed away in the 29th of March 65?

I must hate things.

Qualification?

No underlying health conditions.

We think that contract to co vid uh, probably on the 12th of March he was living the east coast of Essex were traveling up to London once a week for work.

Hey, travel up on the train on Thursday took the tube before the first lock down was called a few days later.

Fell ill.

Was bedridden a few days after that, When it wasn't getting better, he called 111 They told him toe, take paracetamol to stay in bed because this is a mild illness on.

He recover the messaging at the time, then was very much their home.

Protect the NHS.

So Dad was adamant.

That's what he's going to do.

He stayed home.

He kept taking paracetamol.

He thought he's getting better.

His fever seemed to be getting reduced.

The temperature was down.

A few days later, it was back up again.

He had a knee evening of dizziness, of struggling in short of breath, struggling to breathe.

Next morning, you've been nauseous in the night, called 11 again, got an ambulance.

You managed to get downstairs and needed took the ambulance to coach the General Andre within within five minutes of arriving at the hospital After all that he he essentially run out of oxygen in his heart stopped.

Andi died dreadful, very sorry for your loss.

And I wonder, was it very important to him to protect the NHS?

Was that something that he felt that he had to do personally because he could have gone in earlier?

Couldn t It's very much the idea that we were being told that unless you were one of these high risk groups, Unless you're one of these high risk groups, you you should be able to fight.

It offers almost an expectation on duty that we're all trying Thio do our best to stay away from overloading and overwhelming the health service.

Let me let me put that.

Let me put that sort in trouble and put that to Danielle Bright in your experience in I see is that something that families often say to you that people were trying to do their best and not come in good evening closely.

And I just also like to offer my condolences to Jamie.

His story very powerfully illustrates some of the issues that we do come across an intensive care both in terms of patients and their relatives.

Perhaps underestimating the seriousness of co Vered, there might be a perception amongst the public that that co vid is not a serious a zit might be perceived.

But for a small number of people, it is a very serious, life threatening disease.

On DSO, the public health messaging around.

Keeping the community spread of covert down is really important because it does have serious consequences with some people.

And what has been your overriding experience of covert in I.

C.

U where you are treating desperately ill patients?

Um, I think over the course of the year, we have had significant progress in terms of the treatments that we can give to people in intensive care on.

We have made significant inroads into improving survival from Kovar, but it is still a significantly important disease on.

Unfortunately, a number of people do still not survive that when they come to intensive care with covered on managing, their end of life care is really important on that can be difficult for their family and relatives who are homos well, so it's changed a great deal over the course of the year, but there are still some things that are fundamentally important and still remain, which is is making sure that people at the end of their lives are treated well.

Um, Dr will port what will make a difference?

Because the our rate is persistently over one, and it's between 1.1 I understand.

And 1.3.

What is the key thing that needs to be done?

Well at the moment, the key thing that needs to be done is social distancing.

It's actually making it difficult for the virus to jump from one person to another.

That is the number.

One thing on every one of these deaths is a tragedy not only for the individual but for their families.

And 1000 people have been announced, having died in the last 24 hours for 48 hours.

Eso It's really important going forward.

We continue to maintain our visions.

Now we maintain social distance.

But I wonder because we heard Michael Goof saying in response to a question.

Will the lock down in England continue after the a lot of time beyond the 2nd December?

He said, Possibly it might have to then we have Boris Johnson thing adamantly it will not continue.

What will govern those?

What should govern that decision?

What should govern The decision is the rate of new cases at the end of the day, because whilst the reproduction number is greater than one, in other words, 100 people affect, in fact, another 100 or a bit Maura's It is at the moment, then the rates will remain high Onda.

The challenge at the moment is that the numbers of cases are very high, particularly in in the north, the Northeast, the Midlands and the number of patients in hospitals is going up.

And it's it's important because people look at the rest of country and say we don't need to do as much.

But the cases of rising even faster on I wonder if Sage is going to be convened to discuss this very issue.

Because, you know, there is obviously disagreement on a different issues in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England and different decisions.

But from SAGES point of view, is it something that you think that you should take part in a discussion is toe when this lock down should end the job of SAGES to provide the evidence through Patrick Balance and Chris Witty to ministers to show them the numbers on and say it meets at least once a week and recently a little bit more.

So The answer is our job is to provide the evidence.

It's the policymakers that need to take the decisions, but the numbers are becoming more obvious.

And, for example, in Leeds we've seen that they've got Mawr patients in hospital at the moment that they had at the height of the pandemic in April.

I mean, I heard you saying that Actually, this virus is no respecter of time or place.

And so there for coming back to you, Jamie Brown on the question of Obviously the festive season is going to a very different season for you this year.

But I wonder if you think that people should just forgo it for one year if it makes a difference to that rate of infection.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, anyone who has lost anyone is gonna know that frankly, this that the horrible stories when we get this wrong on Christmas coming off time, everyone has lost someone.

Andi Thio risk.

Passing it on even further is really horrible.

I mean, after losing.

With that, I joined Kobe 19 Brief families for justice and we've been calling for an independent statutory inquiry into the handling of this pandemic because we shouldn't be in this predicament now.

We went through this once before on the most horrible thing to watch A little bit involving again is exactly how predictable the numbers are.

We knew exactly where we were going.

Sage new.

They've won the government.

And yet, once again, total inaction thousands and thousands more people are dying.

It's completely way should sacrifice the festive season if we have to.

We have to do everything we can to keep the numbers down.

There's no doubt about that.

Can I just come back to you, Dr Brian, on the question off excess deaths and treatment, in fact.

And I see you, we already know that some cancer treatments are being delayed again in different parts of the country.

You know, the NHS protect the NHS.

What will that actually really mean?

Will it mean protect the NHS by delaying absolutely non urgent operations on delaying urgent treatment that actually the non cover death?

We're going to see more non cover deaths in the next six months.

Well, certainly in the first wave, we didn't get a many patients through hospital with other conditions apart from Kobe, as we expected.

On one of the things that we are very determined to do for a long as we possibly can over the winter is to continue to make sure the patients come to intensive care who who have a need for intensive care, whether that's co vered related or not covert related.

Now, obviously the most important factor in that is the amount of co Vered that that that is in the community and therefore the people coming into hospital.

If we can keep covert down, we can keep all the other activity going, which is what we would hope wanted to do.

Thank you all very much for joining me.