UK retail sales fell 5.1 percent in March compared to a month earlier, despite the British hoarding en masse over the corona pandemic. This was announced by the British National Statistical Office. Economists had generally expected a 5 percent decline.

It is the first month in which the corona crisis fully affects the figures. In February, store sales fell by 0.3 percent. That data was collected before the corona crisis really hit Britain.

In the UK, nearly 426,000 people have so far been tested for the coronavirus, Thursday showed. Of these, more than 138,000 people were found to actually have the virus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Charles have also been infected earlier. The official death toll was 18,738 on Thursday.