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- A further 28 patients at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust have died after testing positive for coronavirus.
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- The death toll at the trust currently stands at 234, according to figures released today by NHS England.
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- Today, the Government was urged to give formal backing to a minute's silence next week to remember all health, care and other key workers who have lost their lives to coronavirus.
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- Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives, launched a campaign earlier this week for the nation to take a moment to honour frontline staff who have died during the Covid-19 crisis.
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- It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced yesterday that millions of key workers and their households are now eligible for coronavirus tests.
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- He announced that people whose work is critical to the Covid-19 response, and those they live with, will be able to register for a test if they have symptoms.
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- NHS and social care staff, police officers, teachers, social workers, undertakers, journalists and those who work in supermarkets and food production are among those now eligible.
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- The announcement came as researchers at the University of Oxford began human trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine candidate.
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- Elsewhere, two RAF aircraft carrying mostly gowns but also masks and gloves arrived from Turkey at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Thursday night and early on Friday morning.
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- Follow our live blog for coronavirus news in Hertfordshire and the UK:
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