Coronavirus: UK death toll rises by 70 to 42,515

A further 14,162 lab-confirmed cases recorded

It comes as Scotland announces new lockdown rules (Danny Lawson/PA)

The UK’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 70, the government said, bringing the total number of deaths to 42,515.

The government said a further 14,162 lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the UK, bringing the total to 554,275.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have now been 58,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Separate figures show there were 2,944 Covid-19 patients in hospital in England as of Wednesday, up from 1,958 a week ago, while 376 Covid-19 hospital patients were in ventilation beds, up from 281 a week ago.

A total of 472 patients with confirmed Covid-19 were admitted to hospitals in England on Monday, compared with 308 a week earlier.

It comes as Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that all pubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh will be forced shut for 16 days from Friday under the country’s latest coronavirus restrictions.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Scotland has been accelerating since mid-September, with 1,054 new cases reported on Wednesday. They have mostly been driven by infections in the central belt, which includes Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Pubs and restaurants are already required to close at 10pm in Scotland, in line with England and Wales. The country also has a ban on people visiting other homes.