Death toll from coronavirus reaches more than 26,000

A total of 26,097 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community in the UK after contracting Covid-19, Public Health England said.

It includes 765 deaths reported in the 24 hours to 5pm on Tuesday.

It is the first time data on the number of deaths in care homes and the wider community has been included in the Government's daily updates.

The total reached by the new method of reporting is around 17% higher than previous data showed and includes an additional 3,811 deaths recorded since the start of the outbreak.

Of these, around 70% were outside hospital settings and around 30% were in hospital.

PHE medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle said: "Every death from Covid-19 is a tragedy.

"Tracking the daily death count is vital to help us understand the impact of the disease.

"These more complete data will give us a fuller and more up-to-date picture of deaths in England and will inform the Government's approach as we continue to protect the public."

Separate PHE data shows nearly a third of all care homes in England have reported suspected or confirmed coronavirus outbreaks.

Some 4,516 homes have reported outbreaks since March 17 up until Monday this week - around 29% of the total care homes.

In every region in England more than a fifth of care homes had reported outbreaks.

Earlier on Tuesday Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab - standing in for Boris Johnson following the birth of the Prime Minister's son - said there was a "joint horror" across the House at the number of people killed in the outbreak.

They included 85 NHS workers and 23 social care workers - a total of 108.

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