Britain’s coronavirus death toll nears 20,000 as England, Wales and Scotland announce 761 more COVID-19 fatalities
- NHS England confirmed a further 587 people died with COVID-19 in last 24 hours
- Wales announced 110 more people had died while Scotland recorded 64 deaths
- Victims in England aged between 40 and 102 and 34 had no health conditions
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Another 761 people have died from coronavirus in Britain, taking the total number of fatalities to 19,499.
NHS England confirmed a further 587 people died with COVID-19 and another 174 deaths were announced across Scotland and Wales.
Victims in England were aged between 40 and 102 years old, and 34 of them had no known underlying health conditions.
A total of 1,184 patients have now died in Scotland after testing positive for COVID-19, a rise of 64 from 1,120 on Thursday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a further 288 had tested positive for the killer virus, meaning 138,609 people in Britain have now been officially diagnosed.
Speaking at her daily press briefing, Mrs Sturgeon revealed the number of people in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 is 1,710, down from 1,748 yesterday.
She added that 141 of these patients are intensive care, seven less than there were on Thursday.
Mrs Sturgeon described the drop in hospital and ICU figures as ‘a growing cause for optimism that the lockdown is working to suppress the virus’.
Meanwhile Wales recorded 110 more deaths and 243 new cases of the lethal infection.