UK coronavirus: Hospital death toll rises by 563 in a day

The number of people who have died from coronavirus in the UK has risen by 563 to 2,353 in total, the Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed.

The latest figures mark the most important day on day increase in the country since the pandemic began.

The Department for Health also confirmed this afternoon that 29,474 people have tested positive for coronavirus within the UK - an increase of 4,324 from yesterday.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 in China’s Hubei province, and the virus has hit more than 200 countries and territories since then.

To date, COVID-19 cases surpassed 870,000 globally, resulting in more than 43,000 deaths, and over 174, 000 recoveries.

On February 11, the WHO officially named the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as COVID-19, and on March 11, declared it a pandemic.