NEW figures show that more than 26,000 people in UK hospitals, care homes and elsewhere with confirmed coronavirus have died.

Since including deaths in care homes and the wider community in the figures, it has been revealed a total of 26,097 people have died in the UK after contracting Covid-19, Public Health England said.

The 26,097 deaths were recorded between March 2 and April 28, and include 765 deaths reported in the 24 hours to 5pm on Tuesday.

It is the first time data on the number of deaths in care homes and the wider community has been included in the Government's daily updates.

The new method of reporting includes an additional 3,811 deaths since the start of the outbreak.

Of these, around 70% were outside hospital settings and around 30% were in hospital.

PHE medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle said: "Every death from Covid-19 is a tragedy.

"Tracking the daily death count is vital to help us understand the impact of the disease.

"These more complete data will give us a fuller and more up-to-date picture of deaths in England and will inform the Government's approach as we continue to protect the public.

"It will remain the case that ONS (Office for National Statistics) data, which publishes every week with data from 11 days ago, includes suspected cases where a test has not taken place.

"ONS figures will therefore continue to include more deaths than our daily series."