Coronavirus: RAF fly-past, flood of cards for UK hero Captain Tom Moore

Captain Tom Moore, whose walking frame feats have raised $57m for UK charity, is getting the works for his 100th birthday.

Captain Tom Moore's grandson Benjie stands in the Great Hall of Bedford School, where more than 120,000 birthday cards sent from around the world are being opened and displayed by staff. Picture: PA

He celebrates his 100th birthday on Thursday and captain Tom Moore - Britain’s new found national treasure - will be honoured with a Royal Airforce Flypast.

Capt Moore, whose feat of walking 100 laps of his 25m garden with his walking frame to raise money for the National Health Service rapidly exceeded his modest expectations of collecting $1000, has become a beacon of hope as Britain continues to flounder in its response to the coronavirus crisis.

British World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore. Picture: AFP

Capt Moore, who fought in WWII in the Burma campaign, has raised nearly £30m ($57m), and more than 1.3m donors have contributed to his NHS charities, a welcome boost of good news as elsewhere the mood is distinctly gloomy.

Capt Moore has received more than 120,000 birthday cards from the public ahead of his big day.

He said this week: “I continue to be offered lots of lovely items. I really do have everything I need but others are struggling due to Covid-19 so, rather than giving to me, please look to donate these generous offers to a local care home or someone in your community. Thank you”.

Capt Moore with his walking frame doing a lap of his garden in the village of Marston Moretaine, 80km north of London. Picture: AFP

The Ministry of Defence has organised for the sortie of Battle of Britain aircraft accompanied by a Wildcat reconnaissance aircraft and Apache attack helicopter to salute Capt Moore from about 250 feet above the ground near his home in Marston Moretaine.

An MoD spokesperson said: “Weather permitting, aircraft from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will complete a fly-past to celebrate Captain Tom’s birthday and mark his amazing fundraising achievement.

“The Great British public is encouraged to follow Captain Tom’s disciplined example and not gather to watch the fly-past but continue following PHE guidelines on social distancing.”

Britain’s deaths from coronavirus on Tuesday exceeded 21,000.

But the real coronavirus mortality figure could be much higher, with deaths in care homes and outside of hospitals about to be added to the daily hospital death tally from Wednesday.

Government data agencies suggest the total could be more than 33,000, depending on the cause of death of more than 4300 who died in care homes in a fortnight in mid April.

More than 85 of the deaths have been frontline medical staff, and the nation paused for a minute’s silence on Tuesday to remember their sacrifices.

This comes as the economy has stalled and the country’s flagship airline, British Airways, announced €535m ($892) in first-quarter losses on Tuesday, warning of 12,000 jobs losses from it’s 42,000 workforce as part of restructuring measures. The airline’s parent company IAG said in the first three months of 2020, revenues fell 13 per cent to €4.6bn. Worse is to come, warned Stephen Gunning, IAG’s chief financial officer, who said it would take several years for global air passenger demand to return to 2019 levels.

In Germany, doctors are posing naked online to demand adequate personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns for their frontline colleagues.

The online protest has gone viral under the hashtag #blankebedenken, or “naked concerns” as the infection rate in Germany has risen from 0.9 to 1.0 and there continues to be a shortage of medical supplies.

In Russia, businesses will stay closed for another fortnight, President Vladimir Putin announced, despite a slow down in the epidemic.

Mr Putin said Russia was not yet at the peak of the pandemic, but he hoped he would be able to relax the lockdown soon if the death rate continued to slow.

Another country with tight lockdown controls, France, is looking to ease the measures in two weeks time if infection rates remain below 3000 a day Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said.

Mr Philippe said primary schools will reopen on May 11 and secondary schools on May 18, with class sizes limited to 15. Non essential retailers will also be allowed to open but shoppers will be advised to wear face masks. On public transport masks will be mandatory. However sporting events have been cancelled until the beginning of September.