UK coronavirus death toll passes 17,000 with another 823 deaths recorded

21 April 2020, 16:11

Testing is continuing across the UK
Testing is continuing across the UK. Picture: PA

By Maddie Goodfellow

A further 823 people have died in the UK from coronavirus, officials announced today.

This brings the total UK death toll to 17,337 as of 5pm on Sunday, the Department of Health said.

Today’s jump in deaths is another huge daily increase, following 449 yesterday and 596 on Sunday.

The Department of Health also said that, as of 9am on Tuesday, a total of 397,670 people have been tested of which 129,044 tested positive.

NHS England announced another 778 deaths in hospitals in England, taking the country's total to 15,607.

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The UK death toll has passed 17,000
The UK death toll has passed 17,000. Picture: PA

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Public Health Wales said 25 more deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 have been reported, taking the number of deaths in Wales to 609.

Public Health Wales said a further 304 people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 7,850.

A further nine people in Northern Ireland who had tested positive for Covid-19 have died, the region's department of health has announced.

It comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of deaths from Covid-19 could be 41% higher than previously reported in England and Wales.

The new figures show there were 13,121 deaths in England and Wales up to April 10 - compared to the 9,288 announced at the time.

The difference in data is due to deaths that occurred outside hospitals - including at care homes, hospices and private homes - as well as delays in recording fatalities.

According to the statistics, 83.9 per cent (8,673 deaths) occurred in hospital, while 18 per cent were outside.

The ONS stats showed that a third of all deaths in the week up to April 10 were down to coronavirus - compared to one in five the week before.

In London, more than half of all deaths registered involved the deadly bug.