UK coronavirus death toll passes 30,000 as further 649 deaths reported

Credit: AP

A further 649 people in the UK have died after testing positive for coronavirus bringing the total death toll to 30,076 according to figures from the Department of Health.

That figure includes includes Covid-19 deaths in hospitals, care homes, and the wider community.

The day-on-day increase in virus-related deaths is similar to the the number of deaths reported at the same point on Tuesday.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK is now the highest in Europe. Credit: AP

The coronavirus death toll in the UK is now the highest in Europe, and the second highest worldwide.

It comes as the Prime Minister was asked in Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions "how on earth did it come to this?" in relation to the UK's coronavirus death toll.

NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, had said earlier in the outbreak that a death toll of below 20,000 would be "a good outcome".

The latest data on Covid-19 testing showed a decrease in the number of daily tests being carried out since 100,000 were carried out at the end of April.

In Wednesday's daily coronavirus briefing, it was announced just 69,463 coronavirus tests were carried out across Tuesday - the fourth day in a row the figure has been below 100,000.

Last week Matt Hancock claimed the government had met its target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April but testing has not reached that number again since.

Questions have been raised over how the 100,000 tests were counted after 27,497 home test kits - which had not yet been returned - were included in the figure.

Of the latest UK death toll, 331 virus-related deaths occurred in hospitals in England - bringing the death toll there to 22,049.

NHS England announced that the majority - 121 - of the latest coronavirus deaths reported took place on May 4.

The latest numbers show April 8 is still the deadliest day for Covid-19 deaths in hospitals in England, when 874 fatalities occurred on a single day.

A passerby takes picture of a piece of art after it appeared on a wall on Ashton Lane in Glasgow. Credit: PA

The total death toll from the outbreak in Scotland now stands at 1,703.

On Wednesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a further 83 patents had died after testing positive for Covid-19.

The death toll is lower than the 2,795 deaths given earlier by the National Records of Scotland as they do not include suspected and probable coronavirus infections.

In Wales a further 21 virus-related deaths have been reported, bringing the total there to 1,044.

Health authorities in Northern Ireland reported a further 14 virus-related deaths, raising the death toll to 418.

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