UK coronavirus death toll jumps to 422 on first day of lockdown as number of confirmed cases hits 8,077

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Katy Clifton24 March 2020

A total of 422 people who tested positive for coronavirus have now died in the UK and more than 8,000 have tested positive.

As of 9am on Tuesday, 8,077 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 422 people have died - a rise of 1,427 cases and 87 deaths since the same time on Monday.

More than 90,000 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK, 82,359 of which came back negative.

NHS England said 83 of the 87 new deaths in the UK happened in England, bringing the total number of deaths there to 386.

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Patients were aged between 33 and 103 years old and all were in vulnerable groups including those with underlying conditions.

According to NHS England, 21 of the deaths were reported at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust in Harrow.

A further seven died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

Four died at each of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The latest figures were announced as the country enters its first day of lockdown after Boris Johnson announced people should only leave their homes for four reasons.

People can leave their homes to shop for essentials, for one form of exercise per day, for medical need or to provide care to a vulnerable person and travelling to and from essential work.

It comes as the Health Secretary said home is now the “front line” in the fight against coronavirus.

Listen to today's episode of The Leader podcast:

Matt Hancock urged everyone to come together to reduce the number of people in the UK who will die from the spread of Covid-19.

But he issued a stark warning, saying stricter measures introduced by the Prime Minister on Monday were not advice but rules that must be followed.

Mr Hancock told MPs in the Commons: “The spread of coronavirus is rapidly accelerating across the world and in the UK.

“The actions we took yesterday are not actions that any UK government would want to take but they are absolutely necessary. Our instruction is simple: stay at home.”

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