Coronavirus deaths in the UK rise by 184
A further 184 people died after testing positive from coronavirus, the government said today.
As of 9am this morning, there have been 7,121,976 tests, with 140,359 tests carried out on 16 June.
To date, 299,251 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm yesterday, of those tested positive for coronavirus, 42,153 have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community. This represents a daily increase of 184 deaths.
Government data does not include suspected Covid-19 deaths, the UK’s figure for which is estimated to have risen above 53,000.
The figures come as health secretary Matt Hancock said today that efforts to create a UK vaccine for the virus are “moving at pace”.
A vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford is now set to be manufactured by Astrazeneca. Meanwhile human trials for a possible vaccine by Imperial College London began last week.
Separately a £5 anti-inflammatory drug called dexamethasone has been showed to reduce deaths of those on ventilators by a third, and those with less severe symptoms on oxygen by a fifth.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed it as the “biggest breakthrough yet” in treating the virus.