Scientists have warned that the death toll will continue to rise sharply as we head towards the expected peak 'in two to three weeks'.
This comes after the death toll in the UK surpassed 1,000 with a daily increase from 759 to 1,019 – the biggest day-on-day rise since the outbreak began.
The Department of Health announced on Saturday that 17,089 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK with 260 more deaths confirmed.
Brendan Wren, Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the report of the further UK deaths "approximates to a person dying every five minutes in our hospitals from Covid-19".