Coronavirus: Makeshift mortuary built at Westminster Coroners Court as death toll hits 104

Westminster council is building a tent to double its capacity for the mortuary in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Builders in hard hats were spotted building the large white tent outside Westminster Mortuary today.

Frightening figures showed tens of thousands of people could die in the "catastrophic" wake of COVID-19.

A Westminster council worker at the site today, who declined to give his name, said the refrigerated racked tent would double the council's capacity.

He said: "The mortuary currently holds 106 bodies. The tent will hold about another 100."

The worker also said councils were building similar tents to expand capacity as much as possible in the pandemic.

The temporary structure is being erected outside the coroner's court as 'tens of thousands could die' (PA)

He added: "The tent will be up today and will be ready by the weekend.

"We hopefully won't ever need them. But you saw the numbers of what could happen, so we need to be prepared."

A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: "We have plans in place to increase the capacity of our mortuary at Horseferry Road as part of a London wide response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The tent is a precautionary step and 'it's hoped it won't be needed' (PA)

“This is a precautionary step and similar arrangements are made during any London wide response to incidents. We hope and trust that this will not be needed but it is sensible to prepare at this stage.”

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has reached 104 after NHS England said a further 32 people had died in England after testing positive.

That number is expected to increase in the coming weeks and months as the pandemic continues to spread - despite UK-wide mitigation methods such as 'social distancing'.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has reached 104 (PA)

Earlier today the Department for Health and Social care said the number of confirmed cases in the UK was at 2,626 - a rise of 676 in the last 24 hours.

However yesterday health officials stressed that the real figure of cases is likely to be around the 55,000 mark.

Regarding the deaths in the past 24 hours the patients were aged between 59 and 94 years old and had underlying health conditions, NHS England said.

Today worldwide the number of cases passed 200,000 and it has claimed the lives of 8,000 people.