Coronavirus / 5-year-old becomes youngest person to die of coronavirus in the UK

London: A five-year-old child is among a further 708 people who have died with coronavirus in Britain, bringing the country's fatalities to 4,313.

The child, who had underlying health issues, is the youngest victim to die with the disease in the UK, which suffered its deadliest day yet. 

The number of new UK infections rose by 3,735 to 41,903, which is the smallest 24-hour increase of cases in four days. 

But this is reflected in a slump in testing, which fell to 9,406, dropping below the 10,000 mark which has been surpassed in the last two days. 

NHS England said 637 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 had died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in English hospitals to 3,939.

They were aged between five and 104, and 40 had no known underlying health condition, ranging in age from 48 to 93.

In today's Downing Street press briefing, NHS England national medical director Stephen Powis told the Downing Street briefing that the latest figures suggested that new cases had begun to 'stabilise' but added that there was 'no room for complacency' and everyone should continue to adhere strictly to lockdown rules. 

The Midlands suffered the brunt of fatalities with 212 deaths, compared with 127 in London, which has been the epicentre of the UK's epidemic. 

The North West had 97 deaths the North East and Yorkshire 73, the East of England 70, the South East 41 and the South West 17.

Coronavirus deaths in Scotland rose by 46 to 218, according to the Scottish government. 

Deaths in Wales rose by 13 to 154, according to Public Health Wales, while deaths in Northern Ireland rose by eight to 56. 

Michael Gove confirmed the grim figures at this afternoon's Downing Street press briefing. 

Professor Neil Ferguson, whose modelling is guiding Whitehall's strategy, this morning braced the public for 'weeks and weeks' of high case numbers - although fresh cases will start to plateau in the around 10 days.

But in a glimmer of hope he said social distancing could be relaxed by the end of May if people continue to obey the lockdown rules. 

Yet despite revealing that movement outside of households has dropped by 85 per cent, pictures today showed cyclists flocking to parks in the warm weather.

Ministers are begging the public to stay at home and not 'lose discipline' so the NHS does not become overwhelmed with an influx of cases.   

Yesterday the UK reached a bleak milestone in its health crisis when the death tally surpassed the number reported by China, where the virus spawned last year, although the figures released by Beijing are contested.