UK coronavirus death toll tops 40,000 as further 357 fatalities announced

Over 40,000 people have now died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus.

The grim milestone was reached after a further 357 patients with Covid-19 died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, bringing the total to 40,261, the Department of Health announced.

NHS England announced 123 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 27,282.

Of the 123 new deaths announced on Friday 19 occurred on June 4, 50 on June 3, 23 June 2 while seven people who had tested positive for Covid-19 died on June 1.

The figures also show 19 of the new deaths took place in May, four occurred in April, and the remaining one death took place on March 25.

Public Health Wales said a further four people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,383.

Another 76 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 14,314.

One more Covid-19 related death was reported by the Department of Health Northern Ireland on Friday, bringing its total to 536.

A total of 2,409 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 14 from 2,395 on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh on Friday, the First Minister said 15,582 people have tested positive for the virus across Scotland, up by 29 from 15,553 previous day.

There are 995 patients in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a fall of 26 in 24 hours, marking the first time since March 30 this figure has been under 1,000.

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