An NHS chief has warned the UK will have "done well" if it comes through the coronavirus pandemic with fewer than 20,000 deaths.
Stephen Powis' comments came on Sunday when the National Medical Director of NHS England was asked if he hoped Britain was not on the same trajectory as places like Italy.
The Covid-stricken country's death toll currently sits at 9,134 with nearly 86,500 confirmed cases.
Speaking at a news conference in Downing Street alongside Business Secretary Alok Sharma, Powis said: "If we can keep deaths below 20,000 we will have done very well in this epidemic.
"If it is less than 20,000... that would be a good result though every death is a tragedy, but we should not be complacent about that."
Powis added the NHS had been working incredibly hard to increase the intensive care capacity beyond the 4,000 beds it typically had.
He said the NHS was preparing operating theatres and recovery areas to take critically ill patients.
He said that was going on in London hospitals and almost doubling capacity though it had not yet been used to treat patients.
"At the moment, I am confident the capacity is there," Powis said. "We have not reached capacity."
It comes after the number of people who have died after contracting coronavirus passed 1,000 in the UK as the death tally shot up 34% in a day.
Covid-19 -related deaths jumped from 759 to 1,019.
The UK now has the seventh highest number of deaths in the world behind Italy, Spain, China, Iran, France and the USA.
The increase of 260 is by far the biggest day-on-day rise in the number of deaths since the outbreak began.
More than 120,000 coronavirus tests have taken place, with more than 17,000 positive results.
The total number of deaths is 34% higher than the equivalent figure on Friday and the largest day-on-day percentage increase since March 18, when the total rose from 71 to 104 (46%).
40 people have died in Scotland with confirmed cases reaching 1245.
On average around 600,000 people die in the UK every year. There were 616,014 deaths registered in the UK in 2018, an increase of 1.5% from 607,172 in 2017.
An extra 20,000 deaths due to the coronavirus would represent an increase of roughly 3.3% on the annual number of deaths.
