The number of coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK has risen by 469, tragic new figures show.
England saw 370 deaths, a rise of 18 from yesterday's death toll of 352, while there were 44 in Wales.
Northern Ireland has confirmed 11 fatalities in the past 24 hours, while Scotland reported a further 44.
This brings the overall number of Covid-19 victims in the UK to 23,832.
The numbers show a continuing trend of the number of hospital deaths slowly falling. A week ago, 711 deaths were reported in England, with 784 on Saturday April 18.
Sadly the real number of lives lost to Covid-19 will be higher when the Department of Health confirms it later, as this does not include those who died in care homes, hospices and private addresses.
NHS England said the latest victims were aged between 38 and 100, and 25 - the youngest a 41-year-old - had no known underlying health conditions.
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Today's figure is less than half the single-day record - 953 - reported on April 10.
NHS England has released a regional breakdown showing where the most recent fatalities happened, with the North East and Yorkshire seeing the highest number.
- East of England - 51
- London - 51
- Midlands - 63
- North East & Yorkshire - 89
- North West - 64
- South East - 32
- South West - 20
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK is past the Covid-19 peak - but England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned the country was "nowhere near the end of the pandemic".
The latest figures come after 427 deaths were announced yesterday, with 482 on Thursday, 610 on Wednesday and 653 on Tuesday.
The government has said it will not consider lifting the lockdown until the death rate and daily infection rate drops dramatically.
Ministers are anxious that a second peak could lead to restrictions being put back in place.
Yesterday research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the rate of fatalities in poorer areas is double that of their more affluent counterparts.
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said: “People living in more deprived areas have experienced Covid-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas.
"General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but so far Covid-19 appears to be taking them higher still.”
According to reports, the Prime Minister is considering allowing Brits to return to work at the end of the month.
But it is likely that those who can work from home will still be required to do so, as the government seeks to avoid a spike in the number of infections.
Germany has seen a rise in cases since lifting its social distancing measures, prompting concerns that strict rules could be reintroduced to bring the outbreak back under control.
Figures released yesterday show that in London between the start of March and April 17, 85.7 deaths per 100,000 of the population were linked to Covid-19.
Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, as well as Hertsmere, Salford, Watford, Middlesbrough, Luton, Sandwell and Slough had rates above 65 deaths per 100,000 people.
In Wales there were 929 Covid-19 deaths during that period - 18% of all deaths.
