The number of people who have died from coronavirus in the UK's hospitals has risen by 75, latest figures show.
There were 69 deaths in hospitals reported in England today, 3 in Wales, 3 in Scotland and no further deaths have been reported in Northern Ireland.
Wednesday's tragic death toll is a drop of 22 from a week ago, when 97 people sadly lost their lives.
By comparison, 364 people died on February 24 - a month ago.
The full figure for the number of people who have died from coronavirus in all settings in the UK in the last 24 hours will be released later this afternoon.
NHS England on Wednesday said a further 69 people, who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 85,980.
Patients were aged between 37 and 97 years old. All except two (aged 55 and 84 years) had known underlying health conditions. Their families have been informed.
The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:
East of England - 13
London - 5
Midlands - 12
North East & Yorkshire - 17
North West - 8
South East – 7
South West - 7
TOTAL 69
There have been a further 159 cases of coronavirus in Wales, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 208,277.
Public Health Wales reported three further deaths, taking the total in the country since the start of the pandemic to 5,491.
Public Health Wales said a total of 1,302,974 first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had now been given in Wales, an increase of 14,724 from the previous day.
The agency said 366,803 second doses had also been given, an increase of 13,456.
There were no further deaths of patients who previously tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland on Wednesday.
Another 139 confirmed cases of the virus were recorded by the Department of Health in the last 24-hour reporting period.
On Wednesday morning, there were 154 Covid-positive confirmed inpatients in hospital, of whom 14 were in ICUs.
A total of 26,226,604 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and March 23, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 403,198 on the previous day.
NHS England said 24,406,074 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 268,651 on the previous day, while 1,820,530 were a second dose, an increase of 134,547.
