Official UK coronavirus death toll rises by 65 to 46,364

A further 65 people have died in the UK after testing positive for the coronavirus, bringing the country's official pandemic death toll to 46,364.

In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Wednesday a further 892 Covid-19 cases were also confirmed across the UK, the Department of Health and Social Care reported.

The DHSC records deaths in hospitals, care homes and the wider community. However, separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 56,600 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

NHS England said 13 people had died in hospital after testing positive for the virus. They were aged between 52 and 92 and all had known underlying health conditions.

Scotland reported zero new virus deaths in hospitals for the twentieth consecutive day, although the milestone was dampened as Nicola Sturgeon announced the reimposition of lockdown restrictions in Aberdeen.

The First Minister declared the move as the city continues to tackle a cluster of 54 cases.

She said the spike in cases had contributed to a greater fear there has been a “significant outbreak” in the region.

She told a Holyrood briefing: “The last thing we want to do is to reimpose these restrictions but this outbreak is reminding us just how highly infectious Covid is.”

There were no new deaths in Northern Ireland.