Some 373 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, up 54 from Monday, the Department of Health has announced.

It was the second largest day-on-day increase since the outbreak began and means the UK has the fifth highest number of confirmed cases in Europe.

A total of 26,261 people had been tested as of 9am on Tuesday, with 25,888 negative results.

The updated toll came as NHS England said a sixth patient in the UK had died after testing positive for Covid-19.

A statement from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at Watford General Hospital, and had tested positive for Covid-19, has died.

“The patient, who died in the evening of Monday 9 March, was in his early 80s and had underlying health conditions.

“His family has been informed and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this difficult and distressing time.”

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said: “I am sorry to confirm a sixth patient in England who tested positive for Covid-19 has sadly died. I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.

“The patient, who was being treated by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, was in their 80s and had underlying health conditions.

“It appears the virus was acquired in the UK and full contact tracing has begun.”

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It was the third UK death to be announced in 24 hours, after patients in Wolverhampton and Epsom died on Monday.

The announcement followed a warning from England’s deputy chief medical officer that the peak of the coronavirus epidemic in the UK was expected within the next fortnight.

Dr Jenny Harries said people will likely be advised to self-isolate as she defended the government’s decision to delay closing schools.

She said experts are assessing new cases on an hourly basis to achieve a “balanced response” to the outbreak, which has infected 319 people in the UK and killed five.

Dr Harries said the vast majority of those who contract the disease in the UK are “pretty well” but may “feel a bit rough for a few days”.

She added: “Within 10 to 14 days we will be likely to advise people with symptoms to self-isolate and we are expecting that start of the peak (of coronavirus cases) to come during that period.”

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Dr Harries said cancelling big outdoor events like football matches would not necessarily be a decision supported by science.

“The virus will not survive very long outside,” she said. “Many outdoor events, particularly, are relatively safe.”

Speaking on Sky News, Dr Harries said “many thousands of people” would contract coronavirus as the disease continued to spread in the UK.

“We currently have relatively few cases here, which is why we are still in the containment phase,” she said.

“Obviously we will have significant numbers in a way in which the country is not used to.

“This is the sort of thing that professionally we’re trained for and very rarely see, almost in a professional lifetime.

“Large numbers of the population will become infected because it’s a naive population – nobody has got antibodies to this virus currently.

“We will see many thousands of people infected by coronavirus, that’s what we’re seeing in other countries, and the important thing for us is to make sure that we manage those infections.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said GPs would only visit sick people self-isolating in their own homes if absolutely necessary, due to the fact it is an infectious disease.

She added: “Generally we expect nearly all of these patients to be fine at home, and we are working to ensure, if they need, the few that become seriously ill, to get into hospital, there will be quick mechanisms for them to do that.”