Coronavirus deaths in UK rise by lowest level since the end of March

A further 269 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died in the UK, taking the overall total to 31,855.

It is the lowest daily figure since 29 March, when there were 214 fatalities in a 24-hour period.

The new figure released by the Department of Health is for coronavirus-related fatalities in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the community, as of 5pm on Saturday.

Numbers at the weekend can sometimes be lower than during the week as some administration staff who collate the figures may not be working.

There have been 178 new deaths in hospitals in England, bringing the total to 23,149.

In Scotland, there have been 10 further fatalities, with the total now 1,857.

In Wales, 12 more people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number to 1,111.

In Northern Ireland, five further coronavirus deaths have been reported, bringing the total to 435.

For an eighth day in a row, the government has not reached its daily 100,000 test target. There were 92,837 tests on Saturday. The last time it hit Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s target was 2 May.

It comes as Boris Johnson has revealed the first details of the government’s revised coronavirus rules.

The longstanding official guidance to “stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” has been amended to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”.

The PM tweeted his new advice, saying people should “stay at home as much as possible”, keep two metres apart when outside and “limit contact with other people”.

Mr Johnson has unveiled a warning system administered by a new “joint biosecurity centre” which will detect local increases in COVID-19 infection rates.

With the alerts ranging from green in level one to red in level five, he said the nation was close to moving down from four to three.

Ahead of a COBRA meeting with Mr Johnson, the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said they had not been consulted over the “stay alert, control the virus and save lives” slogan.

Opposition politicians criticised the message as being ambiguous and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the first she had heard of “the PM’s new slogan” was in newspaper reports.

Ms Sturgeon has described the UK government’s new “stay alert” lockdown messaging as “vague and imprecise”.

She has asked that the campaign is not deployed north of the border, saying it would be “catastrophic” to drop the “stay at home” advice.

She said the advice from her government remains to “stay at home” other than for buying food, getting medicine or exercising.

The Department of Health’s fatality figures only include people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

An alternative measure is from the Office for National Statistics, which is based on all mentions of COVID-19 on a death certificate, including suspected COVID-19.

The ONS has said 29,710 deaths involving COVID-19 were registered in England and Wales up to 2 May.

Across the UK, the number of deaths involving COVID-19 that have been registered currently stands at 33,021.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus deaths in UK rise by lowest level since the end of March