Ninety-five percent of people who have died with COVID-19 in hospitals in England had underlying health issues, according to figures obtained by Sky News.

The data provided by NHS England shows that, as of 5pm on 26 April, 18,749 people had died in hospital with the virus.

In a small number of cases, it was not possible to confirm if a patient did or did not have an underlying health condition.

But for those where it was, 95% were found to have serious pre-existing issues.

In patients over 80-years-old this figure was 96%, 60-79-years-old 95%, 40-59-years-old 88% and 20-39-years-old 82%.


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The breakdown for those under the age of 20 who have died cannot be disclosed as the sample is so small it would breach patient confidentiality rules to distinguish between those with or without pre-existing conditions.

The data does not include hospital deaths in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in the community or in care homes.