Another 596 people have died with coronavirus in UK hospitals - the smallest increase in nearly two weeks.

The Department of Health announced the latest increase, with 16,060 people with COVID-19 - the disease caused by coronavirus - now confirmed to have died in hospital across the four home nations.

NHS England announced another 482 deaths in hospitals in England, taking the country's total to 14,400.

Scotland saw a further 10 deaths, Wales 41 and Northern Ireland one.

'Too early to lift UK lockdown'

Health authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland record their own daily figures, which may not tally with the government's total as they collate their numbers at different times throughout the day.


According to each home nation's health authorities, the number of deaths in hospitals now stands at:

England - 14,400

Scotland - 903

Wales - 475

Northern Ireland - 194

The news comes as a delivery of 84 tonnes of desperately needed personal protective equipment for front line NHS staff was delayed.

The shipment - which includes 400,000 surgical gowns - was supposed to arrive today from Turkey.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has come under fire following claims his government missed a series of opportunities to lessen the impact of the coronavirus epidemic in February and March.

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According to an investigation by The Sunday Times, dire warnings were ignored from scientists - and the UK lost "a crucial five weeks in the fight to tackle the dangerous threat of coronavirus despite being in a perilously poor state of preparation for a pandemic".

The paper also highlighted the fact that Mr Johnson did not attend the first five emergency meetings in the run-up to the outbreak in the UK - something that was confirmed to Sky News at the start of March.

But Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove hit back, telling Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "The idea that the prime minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the coronavirus, I think is grotesque."