Good Morning Britain viewers furious as presenter Sean Fletcher says ‘only’ six children have died from Covid in the UK

GOOD Morning Britain viewers were furious as presenter Sean Fletcher said "only" six children without underlying conditions have died from Covid in the UK.

The presenter was citing a Telegraph article published on December 28, which says six under-19s have died from Covid-19, according to NHS data.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

In a discussion about schools returning amid record number of coronavirus infections, Sean infuriated viewers with his wording.

He said: "I was reading in earlier in the week that only six under 19s who don't have underlying health issues have died of Covid.

"Only six of them. That ties in with what [former Home Secretary] Jacqui [Smith] is saying - schools need to be open, children shouldn't be punished for a thing that is effecting the older generation more. People like me."

The paper states in the article: "Only six under 19s with no underlying conditions died from Covid-19 in England."

Viewers were furious with the statement, with one person saying: "*Only* six children have died…awful thing to say. Disappointed face
And how about children spreading it to others especially with this new strain. Werent they super spreaders not long ago. [sic.]"

Another added: "GMB Presenter "ONLY 6 under 16s have died." Well thats ok then. Must be a great comfort to the parents of the 1 year old that died last week. How many elderly have died from contact with infected under 16s?"

A third remarked: "@GMB only six children have died from COVID I really hope the parents of them ONLY SIX aren’t watching you this morning #goodmoringbritain #GMB"

A fourth said: "Pure idiocy. It’s not that children die from Covid. It’s that they catch it and spread it to people who then die. If a news programme cannot get even this right we have zero chance of getting out of this #GMB"

This comes days after the researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said the new mutant strain of the virus could be more likely to affect children.

They found that the new strain of the virus is 56 per cent more infectious - and that even with another national lockdown, it would be difficult to get the R rate down.

Their study also found that infections were "unlikely" to go down unless schools and universities closed.

The virus variant will lead to a wave of coronavirus cases and deaths that will peak in spring 2021 for London, the South East and east of England, according to scientists.

And they said that cases and deaths will peak in summer 2021 for the rest of the country.

However, researchers don't believe the new strain is more deadly or will be more severe in either adults or children. 

Coronavirus is most rampant among secondary school children, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

But throughout the pandemic, kids have had far fewer cases on the whole in comparison to adults.

This is thought to be because of how the Covid enters human cells - via a receptor called ACE2 which is found on many cells in the upper respiratory tract.  

As the country faces the rising cases, the public was given a glimmer of hope this morning after Oxford University's Covid vaccine was approved.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the vaccine will help Britain out of the pandemic by spring, as cases surge across the country.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine - enough to vaccinate 50 million people.

Along with the 30 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine, Britain now has enough doses ordered to vaccinate the entire population, Mr Hancock said.