UK Records 659 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours

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The number of people who have died in hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen by 659 in 24 hours.

The increase consists of 552 in England, 70 in Scotland, 20 in Northern Ireland and 17 in Wales.

NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak

UK-wide figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have not so far been released, so the total is taken from each nation’s individual reporting.

It brings the working total to 21,751.

But the government tally, when it is released, is unlikely to match this figure. Here’s a quick primer on what all the different numbers mean and how to understand them.

NHS England has also released a new figure for the first time: the number of people who have died in hospital with Covid-19 suspected as an underlying cause, but who had not yet tested positive. There were six such deaths recorded on or after April 24.

A rather more comprehensive metric was issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier on Tuesday: the total number of deaths across England and Wales where coronavirus was either confirmed or suspected as a factor. There is a lag reporting these, meaning the total of 22,300 is only for days up to and including April 17.

It is 40% higher than the figures released by NHS England and Public Health Wales for the same period.

Age breakdown

Meanwhile, of the people in England who died, 38 had no known underlying health conditions. The victims were aged 31 to 99.