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The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 39,728 – an increase of 359 over 24 hours.
Since the end of April, the government’s daily announcement has included people in care homes and the community, rather than just in hospital, who have died.
But only those who had tested positive for Covid-19 are included, meaning anyone who died with a suspected case won’t be recorded.
The figures cover the period up to 5pm on Tuesday.
It comes after the number of people who have died in hospitals across the UK, as well as care homes in Wales, after contracting the virus rose by 215 in 24 hours.
That increase consisted of 179 in England, 11 in Scotland, 17 in Wales and eight in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, as of 9am on Wednesday, 4,786,219 people had been tested for coronavirus, with 279,856 coming back positive. Some 171,829 were tested in the preceding 24 hours, with 1,871 positive. The government has again failed to disclose how many actual people were tested – some of the tests will have been duplicates on the same person.
