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The number of people who have died in UK hospitals after contracting coronavirus has risen by 759 in 24 hours.
It brings the total to 18,100 – an increase of 4% on yesterday’s revised total of 17,341. Health secretary Matt Hancock today told the Commons it was likely the UK was at the peak of the infection.
Earlier on Wednesday, three of the four devolved authorities making up the UK had reported their own deaths totals: 665 in England, 77 in Scotland and 15 in Wales. Northern Ireland had yet to report after an error involving its new public-facing dashboard yesterday.
But the government total is unlikely to match the devolved authorities when Northern Ireland is eventually released. Here’s a quick primer on why the numbers do not match and how to interpret them.
In England, 26 of the people who died had no known underlying health conditions. The nation’s 665 victims were aged 26 to 102.
Meanwhile, 22,814 tests were carried out, with 4,451 people testing positive in England, Scotland and Wales. That brings the UK total to 133,495.
This week, figures for the first time revealed how commonly people from different ethnic groups were dying in England’s hospitals, after concerns were raised that the disease was disproportionately claiming lives from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
Sure enough, 5.8% of people who died were Black up to April 17 – compared with a smaller proportion of the population, 3.5%, who are Black.
Infographic supplied by Statista.