A further 85 people have died with coronavirus in the UK.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 45,053 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for Covid-19, as of 5pm on Tuesday.
The figures do not include all deaths involving the disease across the UK, which are thought to have passed 55,500.
The DHSC also confirmed that there had been another 538 lab-confirmed cases in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Wednesday.
This takes the total number of confirmed cases to date to 291,911.
Of the 85 new deaths reported, 22 were recorded in England’s hospitals, with another two in Wales.
Northern Ireland reported no new fatalities, while Scotland celebrated an encouraging landmark – the country has now gone a full week without any additional coronavirus deaths.
The UK’s individual death tolls now stand as follows:
– England: 40,462
– Scotland: 2,490
– Wales: 1,545
– Northern Ireland: 556
The North West remains the region with the highest rate of infection in Britain, followed by the North East and then Yorkshire and The Humber, according to the latest Government statistics.
Leicester is still the hardest-hit local authority, followed by Bradford, Oldham and Barnsley.
