UK coronavirus death toll among hospital patients passes grim 10,000 milestone after NHS England confirm further 657 deaths

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The number of Covid-19 hospital patients who have died in the UK has passed the grim 10,000 milestone.

The total now stands at 10,612, up 737 from the day before.

The figures, released by the Department of Health, are collated up until 5pm on Saturday, and suggest the death toll linked to the virus is actually much higher.

Earlier on Sunday, NHS England confirmed a further 657 deaths, bringing the total in the country to 9,594.

UK ambulance workers
PA

In Wales, a further 18 patients were confirmed to have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths there to 369.

In Northern Ireland, the total now stands at 118, after a further 11 deaths were reported. A further 24 deaths were recorded in Scotland, taking the total to 566.

The figures - coming to a total of 10,647 - were released by the individual NHS bodies of each country and are calculated differently to the UK-wide statistics.

The figures released on Sunday follow the biggest rise in coronavirus-linked deaths on Friday, with 980, and 917 further fatalities on Saturday.

The news comes after a senior Government coronavirus advisor warned on Sunday that the UK could have the highest number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Europe.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the SAGE committee which advises the Government on Covid-19, told the BBC's Andrew Marr: "The UK is likely to be certainly one of the worst, if not the worst affected, country in Europe.”

Mr Farrar added that he was "hopeful" that the rate of new infections would soon start to go down.

Italy, Spain and France are currently the worst-hit countries in Europe, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Italy has had more than 19,000 coronavirus-linked deaths, Spain nearly 17,000 and France almost 14,000 Covid-19-related fatalities.

Mr Farrar's comments come alongside a growing debate about the personal protective equipment (PPE) given to NHS staff, with more than 30 healthcare workers believed to have died after contracting the virus.

On Sunday morning Business Secretary Alok Sharma admitted the Government “needs to be doing even more” to provide masks, visors and gloves to front line staff, but refused to apologise in an interview with Sky. The Government has distributed around 741 million items of PPE so far, health secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday.

Boris Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds hailed the 'magnificent' NHS
PA

The Royal College of Nursing has told members they have the right to refuse patients treatment if they do not have adequate PPE, and the British Medical Association has also warned of the dangerous situation for medics.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from hospital on Sunday afternoon after spending nearly a week at St Thomas' in London - including several days in intensive care.

Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds thanked and praised "magnificent" NHS staff for saving his life.

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