610 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, as the country’s official death toll approaches 100,000. 

The UK government has confirmed 30,004 cases in the last 24 hours which brings infection toll to a total of 3,647,463 along with some 97,939 deaths. However, other counts already have already seen the country’s toll pass 100,000 and it is only a matter of time before the official milestone is reached.

A separate figures published by another UK statistics agency, alongside additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, suggest there have now been 114,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The NHS England said people who tested positive for Covid-19 had died in the country’s hospitals, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in the setting to 66,437. Patients were aged between 32 and 101. All except 34, aged between 37 and 97, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between May 17 and January 23, with the majority being on or after January 20. There were 28 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result. In Scotland, a total of 1,195 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Sunday. One further death of a person who had tested positive was also reported, though low numbers are expected at weekends due to register offices being closed.

The total number of deaths under the daily measurement stands at 5,705, while confirmed infections since the pandemic began are now at 172,201.  A further 14 deaths have been confirmed in Northern Ireland. The Department of Health also reported an additional 433 positive cases on Sunday. It brings the respective totals there to 1,730 and 100,319. 

The government has renewed warnings that the lockdown restrictions will remain in place for some time to enable effective control of the virus spread.