UK hospital COVID-19 death toll rises by 761 to 12,868

The United Kingdom's hospital death toll from COVID-19 rose by 761 to 12,868 as of 1600 on April 14, the health ministry said.

"313,769 people have been tested of which 98,476 tested positive," it added. The true UK death toll however far exceeds the hospital toll as people have also died in nursing homes and in the wider community, broader data showed on Tuesday.

Deaths in English hospitals rose 651 to 11,656, the national health service said. Twenty of the 651 patients (aged between 20 and 101) had no known underlying health condition. The official British death toll is the fifth-highest globally after the United States, Italy, Spain and France. Scientists and opposition leaders have said they fear the United Kingdom could be the worst-hit country in Europe.