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Health

COVID-19: UK doctors’ lives at risk over kit shortages

NHS staff still do not have the protective equipment they need to treat coronavirus patients, medics have said.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said doctors were putting their lives at risk by working without adequate protection.

It comes as the health secretary said 19 NHS workers had died with coronavirus since the outbreak began.

On Friday, Matt Hancock said there was enough kit for everyone and unveiled a plan for addressing shortages.

As of 17:00 GMT on Friday, 9,875 people had died in hospital in the UK with coronavirus, a rise of 917 on the previous day.

The latest deaths included an 11-year-old.

Mr Hancock told the BBC the government was looking into how NHS staff who had died with the virus were infected – adding that some may have caught it outside of work.

“But that doesn’t take away from the bravery of every single NHS worker,” he said, adding that his “heart goes out” to those who have died and their families.

Mr Hancock said he was “particularly struck at the high proportion of people from minority ethnic backgrounds and people who have come to this country to work in the NHS who have died of coranavirus”.

“We should recognise their enormous contribution,” he added.

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