Coronavirus: Another 180 people die after testing positive in UK – pushing total over 1,400

The Department of Health says 1,408 people have now died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, following 180 more deaths across the country.

The latest increase is down from yesterday’s rise of 207.

However, the 1,408 figure does not include six more deaths in Scotland reported earlier today, as well as one in Northern Ireland.

:: England – 159 more deaths, 1,284 in total

:: Scotland – 6 more deaths, 47 in total

:: Wales – 14 more deaths, 62 in total

:: Northern Ireland – 1 more death, 22 in total.

It comes as the boss of the NHS in England said 9,000 people were being treated in hospital after contracting the virus – a rise of 2,800 since Friday.

As of Monday, 134,946 tests have been carried out across the UK; 112,805 were negative and 22,141 positive, said the Department of Health and Social Care.

In Scotland, there were 1,563 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of 9am on Monday, up 179 from Sunday.

However, the country’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, said the actual number of cases there is estimated at more than 100,000.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the SEC Centre in Glasgow is going to be turned into a hospital, and cancer screening programmes paused to help the NHS.

Confirmed cases in Wales have risen to 1,451, after 210 new cases were recorded on Monday.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the COVID-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said “the true number of cases is likely to be higher”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday the UK had reached 10,000 tests a day, which he added was ahead of schedule as the government works towards 25,000 daily tests.

Health minister Helen Whately has defended the UK’s coronavirus testing following growing calls for the country to hugely expand its programme.

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She told Sky News the UK was “right at the top of the league table” for testing – despite admitting countries such as South Korea and Germany have conducted many more tests.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has previously called on national governments to “test, test, test” as the “backbone” of the global response to the pandemic.

WHO figures show the increase in new infections worldwide is now around 70,000 per day – up from about 50,000 just days ago. More than 32,000 people have died worldwide.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Another 180 people die after testing positive in UK – pushing total over 1,400