UK coronavirus death toll surpasses 10,000

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has now exceeded 10,000 fatalities, with at least 10,612 people having succumbed to the disease after today's report of 737 new deaths in England and 18 recorded in Wales, with 24 killed in Scotland and Northern Ireland still to be announced.

The death rate from coronavirus in the UK has just passed the significant 10,000 mark amid reports that Britain is nowhere near to peak hospitalisations from the virus.

The news comes as Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, told the BBC, “the UK is likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected countries in Europe” by the coronavirus pandemic.

NHS England announced a further 657 deaths, the youngest of whom was a 26-year-old with underlying health problems, taking England's total to 9,594.

A further 18 patients died after testing positive for coronavirus in Wales, bringing the number of deaths in Wales to 369.

A further 367 people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,297. Dr Giri Shankar, from Public Health Wales.

The Scottish Government's figures revealed that 31,114 tests have now been carried out across Scotland, which is an additional 1,211 tests in the past 24 hours. _Agencies


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