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Coronavirus: UK death toll rises by 393 to 1,808 in biggest daily increase – including 19-year-old with no health issues

A 19-year-old with no underlying health conditions was among the latest 393 people to die from coronavirus as the UK’s death toll rose to 1,808.

The rise from Monday’s death toll of 1,415 is by far the biggest day-on-day increase so far. The previous highest was 260 on Saturday.

According to figures issued on Tuesday by each country’s health authority, a further 367 people died in England, with 13 in Scotland, seven in Wales and six in Northern Ireland.

Overall, there have been 1,651 deaths in England, 69 in Wales, 60 in Scotland and 28 in Northern Ireland.

In England, those confirmed to have died on Tuesday were all in hospital and their ages ranged from 19 to 98.

All but 28 of the 367 patients had underlying health conditions. The 28 who did not were aged between 19 and 91.

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The latest death toll came as Number 10 hinted Boris Johnson is frustrated by the slow progress on testing as it urged NHS trusts to use spare tests on staff.

Fewer than 10,000 tests per day are being carried out, according to the latest figures from Public Health England, despite health secretary Matt Hancock saying a target of 10,000 per day had been hit.

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Asked whether Johnson was frustrated, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “It’s absolutely an important issue and the PM and ministers want as much progress to be made on this as possible.

“We’ve been very clear that where there is additional capacity in the system that should be being used for NHS workers.”

Meanwhile, millions of items of personal protective equipment (PPE) were delivered to NHS trusts on Monday, with the army helping to ensure supplies reach frontline workers.

The spokesman said: “Yesterday’s deliveries of PPE included more than 2.5 million aprons, 870,000 eye protectors, 218,000 respiratory masks, one million surgical masks and 11 million gloves.

“The full weight of government is behind the PPE efforts, with PPE being sent out 24 hours a day and the army helping with deliveries.

“There have been occasional issues with deliveries being received out of hours by NHS trusts but this is what we are working on to address and resolve.”

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