The Midlands has become the UK's new coronavirus hotspot after deaths there surpassed London.
Figures released today showed that 92 patients died in hospitals in the Midlands region in the past 24 hours, 10 higher than the death toll reported for the capital.
The deaths may have happened over the previous two weeks and only recently been added to the total.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has said that over 500 patients had died at its hospitals since the start of the outbreak - the highest number for any trust in England.
As of 5pm on April 18, the trust had announced 589 deaths, according to figures from NHS England.
Two other trusts have announced between 300 and 400 deaths.
They are London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (375) and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (380).
The UK's grisly toll continued to climb this afternoon when 482 new deaths were confirmed in England, 41 in Wales, 10 in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland.
NHS England said victims were aged between 34 and 104.
Six of those who died, aged between 52 and 92, had no known underlying health condition.
Last week, a Nightingale hospital was opened in Birmingham to help the city tackle the coronavirus crisis.
The facility is located inside the NEC exhibition centre and constructed in just eight days.
The hospital is the second of seven planned Nightingale NHS facilities to open, after the first became operational at London's ExCel centre.
With 500 beds already installed, the NEC-based field hospital, which has its own mortuary and pop-up Tesco shop, could be increased to take up to 4,000 people if needed.
It has yet to take its first patients since becoming fully operational on April 10, with clinicians hoping it will never reach anything like capacity.
More than 400 civilian contractors, together with military personnel and about 500 clinical staff, were involved in the setting-up.
The Duke of Cambridge has praised NHS workers' "selfless commitment" when he officially opened the hospital.
William said the temporary field hospital - - was also a "wonderful example" of the "pulling together" going on up and down the UK amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
In a speech on Thursday, delivered via video-link because of social distancing rules, William said he was happy to be attending "in digital spirit at least" and later joined in remotely with a clap for carers.
"Their selfless commitment has touched the hearts of the entire nation."
He added: "The building you are standing in is yet another example of how people across the country have risen to this unprecedented challenge.
"The Nightingale hospitals will rightly go down as landmarks in the history of the NHS.
"The NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham is a wonderful example of Britain pulling together.
"Having spoken to some of the people who helped build it, hospitals are about the people and not the bricks.
"You all deserve our huge thanks, and you should all be hugely proud of what you have achieved in such a short space of time.
