UK coronavirus death toll passes 33,000 mark as 494 more deaths confirmed

The UK coronavirus death toll now stands at 33,186 with a further 494 confirmed to have passed having been infected, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed.

Only 87,063 tests took place on Tuesday 12 May, short of the 100,000 daily target.

NHS England has announced that of the new deaths, 244 took place in the nation, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 23,952.

Of the 244 new deaths announced on Wednesday:

  • 40 occurred on May 12

  • 72 occurred on May 11

  • 27 occurred on May 10

The figures also show 62 of the new deaths took place between May 1 and May 9, 42 took place in April, while the remaining one death occurred on March 27.

NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago. This is because of the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19, for post-mortem examinations to be processed and for data from the tests to be validated.

Public Health Wales said a further 22 people have died, taking the total in the country to 1,154.

Another 133 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of positive cases in Wales to 11,706.

Meanwhile, there have been a further two deaths of patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said.

It brings total related fatalities in the region to 449.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the latest figures. Credit: ITV News

Furthermore, a total of 1,973 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 61 from 1,912 on Tuesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament, she announced 13,929 people in Scotland have now tested positive for the virus, a rise of 166 from 13,763 the day before.

As of Tuesday night, 1,534 patients were in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, down 84 from 1,618 the previous day, Ms Sturgeon added, of which 70 are in intensive care, a fall of 11.

These daily figures differ from the weekly figures published today by National Records of Scotland because the weekly figures include all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on death certificate.

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