UK coronavirus death toll rises by 40 to nearly 42,000

A further 40 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the death toll since the start of the outbreak to a total of 41,902.

Officials said the recorded fatalities were those who had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

It came as the Government recorded a further 6,634 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus, taking the overall number of cases confirmed to 416,363. It is the highest daily total since the outbreak began.

Earlier, individual NHS bodies from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded a total of 33 new coronavirus-related deaths in hospitals, including an 18-year-old.

Thirty of the deaths were in hospitals in England. Two more people died in Scotland, one died in Wales and Northern Ireland recorded no further deaths.

The people who died in England were aged between 18 and 101. All had known underlying health conditions except two, aged 53 and 82.

The dates of the deaths were between September 17 and September 23. Seven other deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

Two more Covid-19 deaths were recorded in Scotland, while 465 people tested positive for the virus over the past day in the country. This is the second highest daily total since the pandemic began.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said 25,960 people have now tested positive overall and 2,510 have died after being confirmed to have Covid-19.

There were a further 348 cases of Covid-19 in Wales in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 21,896, Public Health Wales said.

The latest death in the country brings the total fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,606.

Northern Ireland saw 189 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the last 24-hour reporting period, the Department of Health said.

There were no further deaths recorded by the department, with the country's toll remaining at 577.

The news comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a new part-time Jobs Support Scheme and other measures designed to prop up the economy until a coronavirus vaccine is ready.

Mr Sunak announced a multi-billion pound package of help to replace the costly furlough scheme, allowing millions to go part time while keeping around four-fifths or more of their earnings.

But the battered hospitality sector said it was not enough to save restaurant and pub jobs – and the Chancellor himself admitted that “we can’t save every job”.

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