Coronavirus: UK death toll rises by 621 to 28,131

Government says UK is past peak of virus

A total of 28,131 people have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, a rise of 621 over the latest 24-hour period, the Department for Health and Social Care has said.

The new figures, put out by the Department of Health and Social Care on Saturday, came as local government secretary Robert Jenrick said 1,129,907 coronavirus tests had been carried out in the UK, including 105,937 on Friday.

Echoing comments by Boris Johnson earlier this week, Mr Jenrick said during a news conference the UK has now passed the peak of the virus.

In England, NHS England announced 370 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 20,853.

Of the 370 new deaths announced today, 75 occurred on 1 May, 149 occurred on 30 April, and 52 occurred on 29 April.

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The figures also show 85 of the new deaths took place between 1 and 28 April while the remaining nine deaths occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on 13 March.

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.

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The figures published today by NHS England show 8 April continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths occurring on a single day, with a current total of 864.

In Scotland, a total of 1,559 patients who tested positive for coronavirus have now died, an increase of 44 from Friday, while in Wales, 44 deaths brought the number of people who have died after testing positive to 969.

Additional reporting by PA