The Department of Health said today that a total of 1,019 patients have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Friday, up from 759 the day before – a rise of 260. There are now 17,089 confirmed cases in the UK.
A statement said: “Patients were aged between 33 and 100 years old and all but 13 (aged between 63 and 99 years old) had underlying health conditions.”
Seven more people have died in Scotland, four in Wales and two in Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already having to lead the response to the pandemic from Downing Street after he was diagnosed with the disease.
He has been accused of failing to follow his own social distancing rules after Health Secretary Matt Hancock tested positive and England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty began self-isolating with symptoms.
In other developments this weekend:
NHS workers began being tested for coronavirus at a temporary drive through testing station in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures in Chessington.
Photos revealed the inside of the ExCel centre in London which is being made into a temporary hospital with two wards, each for 2,000 people, to help tackle the coronavirus response.
The British Red Cross said evictions of asylum seekers from Government accommodation are to be halted amid fears about the disease.
Police urged motorcyclists to stay out of the countryside and told them they cannot claim it is part of their permitted daily exercise under lockdown rules.
