The UK’s coronavirus death rate is now higher than Italy and China's at the same stage of their COVID-19 outbreaks. Britain's death toll leapt to a staggering 281 while docs identified 600 new infections in just 24 hours - sparking fears the NHS could be overwhelmed within weeks.
Italy has become the European epicentre of the outbreak, with 793 people dying in 24 hours alone. It overtook China as the country with the most coronavirus-related deaths in the world on Thursday when it registered 3,405 dead.
Since then, a further 1,420 people have died as a result of the virus. The grim rise came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces growing pressure to give NHS staff on the frontline protective equipment in order to tackle the virus head-on.