The UK's official coronavirus death toll has risen to 42, 288 after 135 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. A total of 42, 288 people have now died of the disease in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the community.
The Government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000. The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Thursday, 136,516 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,218 positive results.
Overall, a total of 7,7,259,555 tests have been carried out and 300,469 cases have been confirmed positive. The figure for the number of people tested has been "temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting" across all methods of testing.