Number of Coronavirus Deaths in UK Passed 13,000

In the UK, the number of people who have died from the coronavirus has passed 13,000. The number of deaths increased by 861 to 13,729 over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

It was the most significant daily increase in five days. Besides, 327,608 people were tested for the coronavirus, of whom 103,093 were positive.

The number of deaths in English hospitals increased by 740 to 12,396, the National Health Service said. “40 of these 740 patients (between 45 and 93 years old) had no underlying health problems,” said the health service.

The coronavirus outbreak in the UK is starting to peak, but it is too early to lift the lockdown, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday.

If the government relaxed social distance measures, the virus would continue to “rampant”, he said.

The UK has the fifth-highest official death toll from COVID-19 in the world, after the United States, Italy, Spain, and France, although it is only hospital deaths and the actual number is likely to be much higher.