UK death toll hits 6,159 as coronavirus claims 786 lives in just 24 hours
7 April 2020, 16:25
The UK's coronavirus death toll has hit 6,159, a rise of 786 in just 24 hours, the Department of Health said.
The number of confirmed cases is now 55,242, with over 213,000 people having been tested.
The 24-hour rise was significantly more than that of the previous day, when the number of deaths rose by 439.
Over 14,000 people were tested for coronavirus yesterday, with the government aiming for 100,000 tests per day by the end of April.
NHS England said a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 5,655, up from 4,897 at the same time on Monday.
Patients were aged between 23 and 102 years old and 29 of the 758 patients (aged between 23 and 99 years old) had no known underlying health conditions.
A further 19 patients died in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 212, health officials said.
As of 9am 7 April, 266,694 tests have concluded, with 14,006 tests on 6 April.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 7, 2020
213,181 people have been tested of which 55,242 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 6 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 6,159 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/MB1ckbNjm7
296 people have died in Scotland, up 74 from 222 on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon said.
The figure is "relatively large", she said because the National Records of Scotland is moving to recording deaths seven days a week, having recorded just four deaths over the weekend, which she had said would be "artificially low".
In total, 4,229 people have tested positive across the country and the number of patients being treated in hospital for Covid-19 is 1,751 including 199 in intensive care.
Public Health Wales said 291 new cases had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Wales to 3,790, adding the true number of cases was likely to be higher.
Dr Giri Shankar, from Public Health Wales, said: "Nineteen further deaths have been reported to us of people who had tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of deaths in Wales to 212.
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"We offer our condolences to families and friends affected, and we ask those reporting on the situation to respect patient confidentiality."
Dr Shankar said more than 15,000 tests for the virus had been carried out on more than 13,000 people since the start of the outbreak.
