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The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 33,186 – an increase of 494 over 24 hours.
The figures include deaths in hospitals, care homes and the community, and cover the period up to 5pm on Tuesday. But the true number of deaths may be significantly different. Here’s a quick primer on what all the different numbers mean and how to understand them.
Meanwhile, the government tested 61,741 people for coronavirus in the 24 hours up to 9am today. Of them, 3,242 tested positive, bringing the UK’s total (including people who have since recovered) to 229,705.
The total of 87,963 tests carried out comes 13 days after the government claimed to have hit its target of doing 100,000 tests every day on April 30. Since then, it has only tested 100,000 or more twice: on May 1 and on Sunday.
It has blamed technical problems at a lab for the low figure, but also confusingly claims that capacity remains at 108,000 a day.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that there had been 494 deaths in UK hospitals recorded in 24 hours. In fact, the figure of 494 relates to deaths in all settings, including care homes and the community.