Coronavirus: UK death toll passes 10,000
A further 737 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, bringing the total to at least 10,612.
In England another 657 patients died from the virus. Earlier today Scotland reported a further 24 deaths, taking the country’s total to 566.
Read more: The virus will not over come us, says the Queen
Eleven more people have died in Northern Ireland, while the Wales death toll rose by 18.
As of 9am this morning, 282,374 people have been tested, of whom 84,279 tested positive, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The figures mark a drop in daily deaths after the government confirmed a further 917 new deaths from coronavirus on Saturday and 980 — the biggest daily rise to date — on Friday.
But the UK’s daily death toll is now higher than at any point during outbreaks in Spain or Italy, previously seen as the worst-hit European countries.
Meanwhile in the United States more than 20,000 people have died, the highest in the world, including China.
The figures, collated by Johns Hopkins university, also reveal that the US saw more than 2,000 people die in a 24-hour period over Good Friday and Easter Saturday.
Though there are signs that the death rate may be slowing in the worst affected areas in the US, including New York and New Jersey, an end date to lockdown restrictions remains some way off.
It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital a week after he was admitted following a worsening of his coronavirus condition.
Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care, said he “owes his life” to the NHS staff who treated him.
He will not return to work immediately, and has moved to Chequers while he recovers.