Coronavirus: UK death toll rises by 170, the smallest increase since day after lockdown
The number of people who have died in the UK from coronavirus rose by 170 to 34,636, business secretary Alok Sharma has announced.
The rise is the lowest daily increase since 24 March, the day after lockdown measures were implemented.
It also represents a sharp drop from the previous 24 hours, in which 468 more people died of the disease.
Due to hospital reporting delays, death tallies on Sunday and Monday are often smaller than on other days.
Sharma added that the tally did not include figures from Northern Ireland due to technical issues.
He also said 243,303 people in Britain had so far tested positive for the virus, an increase of 3,142 since yesterday.
The rise in the number of deaths in Britain from the virus peaked at 1,172 on 21 April according to official data and has been falling steadily since then.
Other government statistics which include deaths due to suspected cases indicate that Britain’s toll is over 40,000.