The UK’s coronavirus death toll is climbing at a rate steeper than Italy’s after 684 people lost their lives on Friday. New data also shows that London is now witnessing more daily deaths than Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global pandemic first began, at the same stage of its outbreak.
Today saw 100 people die in the capital, which was the deadliest day yet for Britain as a whole. Two NHS nurses, Aimee O'Rourke, 38, and 36-year-old Areema Nasreen were among those to die in the UK.
However, the number of lives being lost daily in Italy and Spain - the two European countries worst hit by the deadly bug - is beginning to plateau, according to analysis by the Financial Times.