Some 759 people have now died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, the most recent government figures have revealed – an increase of 181 in 24 hours.
The number was accurate as of 5pm on Thursday.
The jump in total coronavirus-related deaths represents the biggest day-on-day rise in deaths since the outbreak began – a jump of 31% on the total yesterday.
It took 13 days for the number of deaths in the UK to go from one to just above 100. It took a further eight days to reach the latest total of 759.
The number of people tested in the UK for coronavirus has seen its biggest day-on-day increase since the outbreak began: up 8,911, from 104,866 tested as of 9am on March 26 to 113,777 tested as of 9am on March 27.
Just under 50,000 tests (46,801) were carried out in the seven days to 9am March 27.
In the previous seven days the number was 34,205.
The daily number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached a new high, with 2,921 recorded in the 24 hours to 9am March 27.
The equivalent number for the previous 24 hours was 2,129.