CORONAVIRUS deaths in hotspot the Midlands have overtaken London – with Michael Gove admitting today it is a "particular area of concern".
Today's No10 daily briefing heard hospital admissions have exploded by 47 per cent in the area in just one day.
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His comments came as deaths in Britain today rose to 708 on the deadliest day yet with the grim total now at 4,353.
Among these is a five-year-old child with underlying health conditions – the youngest coronavirus victim so far in Europe.
Out of the latest deaths in England, 212 were in the Midlands – almost double than the 127 people who died in Covid-19 hotspot London.
Mr Gove said work is now being "accelerated" on "transforming Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre into a 2,000 bed Nightingale hospital".
It comes after a warning hospitals in the West Midlands will reach maximum capacity by next week.
Mayor Andy Street said the region appears to be the next hotspot after London – with plans to turn the temporary hospital into the biggest medical facility in the UK.
He added: "The expectation, given the modelling of how this disease is spreading, means that we will need the capacity at the NEC Nightingale hospital at about the time it’s due to open."
A temporary mortuary with space for up to 12,000 bodies is now being built at Birmingham airport – next to the NEC.
The death toll in the Midlands is higher than all seven NHS England regions except London.
The Sun previously revealed how Wolverhampton had turned into a ghost town after positive cases soared.
The government has pinpointed the West Midlands as a disease hotspot – amid reports that the sudden hike in and around Wolverhampton could have been caused by a super-spreader churchgoer.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said previously authorities were doing everything possible to find out why the hotspot had emerged.
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He said: "There is a hotspot, not as big as in London, but there is a hotspot in the Midlands.
"It's something that we're looking at very, very closely to find out why, frankly."
Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK with about 1.1million people in the city. A total of about 3.8 million live in the metropolitan area.
The multicultural community is also one of the biggest travel hubs thanks to the East Midlands Airport and the Midlands Rail Hub.
Positive coronavirus cases have today risen from 38,168 to 41,903, the Department of Health revealed.
The new figures from the Department of Health show cases today rose by 3,735 – less than yesterday's rise of 4,450 – suggesting the 'curve' may be flattening out.
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Those testing positive for Covid-19 had been rising on average by around 17 per cent per day but today is the first time there has been a drop in the rate of infection.
It comes as Brits were warned not to flout government lockdown advice this weekend as temperatures rocket to 20C.
But some were still snapped not practising social distancing as they worked out in parks and cycled in large groups.
The UK's chief nurse Ruth May begged people to stay at home in memory of two nurses who lost their lives caring for those with the killer bug.
Aimee O’Rourke, 38, and Areema Nasreen, 36, sadly passed away after treating coronavirus patients on the frontline.
Two other healthcare assistants have also died in the last two days – with nine medics in total now killed by the virus.
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