UK coronavirus death toll rises by 412 to 37,460

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

The UK’s official coronavirus death toll has reached 37,460, a rise of 412 since the last count.

The Department of Health said in an update: “As of 9am 27 May, there have been 3,798,490 tests, with 117,013 tests on 26 May. 267,240 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 26 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 37,460 have sadly died.”

New figures were released after Downing Street said it could not explain why the number of daily tests carried out had not been reported publicly for four days.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, Boris Johnson was being questioned by MPs about the government’s response to the pandemic, which has left Britain with the second-highest death toll in the world, behind only the US, where some 99,000 people have perished with Covid-19.

In Europe, 32,955 deaths have occurred in Italy, 28,533 in France and 27,117 in Spain, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Figures for recent days show the UK now has the highest rate of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 worldwide, averaging close to 5 in every million people per day.

Lockdown conditions are being eased at varying rates in UK nations, with schools in England slated to begin reopening from 1 June, and non-essential shops from 15 June. Scotland plans a slower return to normality, with schools not returning until August.