UK coronavirus death toll rises by 288 to 28,734

Credit: PA

A further 288 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total death toll in the UK to 28,734.

Health Secretary for England Matt Hancock announced the latest figures - which include deaths in hospitals, care homes and the wider community - at Monday's daily government briefing on the outbreak.

The latest update is a lower day-on-day increase in reported deaths from figures released on Sunday and Mr Hancock said the figure was "lower than at any point since the end of March".

He added, however, that "reported figures tend to be lower over the weekend so we do expect that number to rise".

The UK's coronavirus death toll is now the second highest in Europe, behind Italy where 29,079 coronavirus patients have died.

Rainbows have appeared around the UK as a signal of thanks to NHS staff. Credit: PA

The statistics announced by Mr Hancock show the number of Covid-19 tests carried out has dropped below the 100,000 a day target met by the government by the end of April.

In the 24 hours up to 9am on Monday 85,186 tests for Covid-19 were carried out, Mr Hancock said.

While coronavirus testing dropped to 76,496 on Saturday.

A Covid-19 drive-through test centre in Greenwich, London. Credit: PA

Of the latest UK coronavirus deaths, NHS England reported 204 new deaths among patients who had tested positive for Covid-19.

The latest figures bring the total number of confirmed reported virus-related deaths in hospitals in England to 21,384.

From the 204 new fatalities announced by NHS England on Monday, 54 occurred on May 3, 108 occurred on May 2, and 24 occurred on May 1.

Of the virus-related deaths reported by NHS England, 52 per cent have been patients aged 80-years-old and over while 39 per cent were aged 60-79.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has reported 778 deaths in patients who had tested positive for coronavirus - the highest number for any trust in England.

A fridge to be used for bodies with Covid-19 at a mosque in Birmingham. Credit: PA

In Scotland, the death toll from the virus has risen to 1,576 - with the First Minister confirming five more patients had died after testing positive for the virus.

While in Wales, a further 14 deaths have been reported in patients who contracted coronavirus - raising the death toll there to 997 according to health officials.

Six more coronavirus patients have died in Northern Ireland, taking the official total there to 387.

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