Coronavirus: UK hospital deaths rise by 586 taking total to 21,678

28 April 2020, 21:38

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Another 586 people have died in UK hospitals after contracting coronavirus, taking the total to 21,678.

It comes as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on Tuesday attributed a further 4,343 deaths to Covid-19 in English and Welsh care homes in the past two weeks.

These figures combined takes the UK's total fatalities to more than 26,000, meaning the country is second to only Italy in Europe with regard to deaths.

There have been another 3,996 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to the Department of Health's figures, meaning the total positive infections in the UK now stands at 161,145.

It means the country has now surpassed Germany for the total number of cases and is now fifth in the world behind the US, Spain, Italy and France.

For all the latest coronavirus updates, follow our live blog here

Of the 599,339 people tested for the disease, more than 438,000 have returned negative.

There were 29,571 tests carried out on 27 April, while there was a capacity for 43,563.

Of the deaths announced today, 512 died in English hospitals, 70 more in Scotland, 17 in Wales and a further 20 in Northern Ireland.

From Wednesday, the government's daily figures will include deaths in care homes and in the community for the first time.

Care homes notified the CQC of a total of 4,343 deaths of residents in homes between April 10 and 24 in England, the Office for National Statistics said.

It is the first time the CQC death notifications for suspected or confirmed Covid-19 in care homes have been published.

Listen & subscribe: Global Player | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify