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Coronavirus: UK death toll in hospitals alone rises by 938 in one day

The number of people to have died in hospital after contracting coronavirus has increased by 938 over the space of 24 hours, the government has confirmed.

The UK death toll for coronavirus patients has risen to 7,097, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Wednesday.

The total number of confirmed infections has jumped to 60,733 after a rise of more than 5,400.

Around 232,700 people have been tested for the virus as of Wednesday morning, according to the latest figures.

Nearly 13,000 people were tested in a day, the health ministry said.

Professor Angela McLean, the deputy chief scientific adviser, said the spread of the virus is not accelerating.

"This count of new cases in the UK, day by day over the last few weeks, is not accelerating out of control," she said.

"Yesterday, there were 5,492 new cases and the spread of the virus is not accelerating and that is good news."

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