Coronavirus: UK hospital deaths reach 14,576 after 847 more patients die
Deaths will be the last statistic to slow due to the time it takes for someone to fall ill, be admitted to hospital and sadly die.
Friday 17 April 2020 21:26, UK
Another 847 people have died with coronavirus in UK hospitals, taking the nationwide total beyond 14,000.
The Department of Health announced the latest increase, with 14,576 people with COVID-19 - the disease caused by coronavirus - now confirmed to have died in hospital across the four home nations.
The number of tests for the illness has also risen by 21,328 to 438,991, although this includes some people being tested more than once.
There have now been 108,692 positive tests in the UK.
Health authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also record their own daily figures, which may not tally with the government's total as they collate their numbers at different times throughout the day.
NHS England announced another 738 deaths in hospitals in England, taking the country's total to 13,134.
Of the new deaths, 138 occurred on 16 April, 320 on 15 April, and 109 on 14 April.
Some 154 of them happened between 1 April and 13 April, and 16 were last month - dating back to 21 March.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also announced another 58 deaths in Scotland, Wales has recorded another 11 deaths, and there were 18 more confirmed in Northern Ireland for the second consecutive day.
According to each home nation's health authorities, the number of deaths in hospitals now stands at:
- England - 13,134
- Scotland - 837
- Wales - 506
- Northern Ireland - 176
Figures from the Department of Health and each home nation do not include deaths in care homes, hospices and other settings outside hospital, masking the UK's true coronavirus death toll.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, released on Thursday, suggested there were around 75% more coronavirus-related fatalities in England and Wales last month than reported by the government.
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On Wednesday, the National Records of Scotland revealed that - as of 12 April - almost 25% of 962 registered deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned in the death certificate in Scotland had occurred in care homes.
Announcing an extension to the on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab acknowledged that there were still "issues with the virus spreading in some hospitals and care homes".
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned the UK will endure thousands more COVID-19 deaths before the , even though the number of new cases suggests the peak of the epidemic is in sight.
Fatalities will be the last statistic to begin slowing down due to the time it takes for someone to fall ill, be admitted to hospital and then sadly succumb to the disease.