By Harriet Brewis From Evening Standard UK

A further 739 patients have died with coronavirus in the UK bringing the national total ​to 27,510.

The figure includes those who have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday

The full UK figures were revealed this afternoon by Health Secretary Matt Hancock at the daily Downing Street press briefing.

Mr Hancock also said the Government had met its target to carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April after 122,347 tests were performed in the 24 hours up to 9am on Friday.

Earlier today, NHS England reported 352 further hospital deaths over night, while Northern Ireland saw another 18, Wales another 17 and Scotland another 40.

The 352 patients in England were aged between 30 and 103. Eighteen of them (aged between 43 and 98) had no known underlying health conditions, NHS England said.

April 8 remains the worst date for hospital deaths – with a total of 863 fatalities occurring on that day alone, according to the health body.

The latests hospital figures come after new analysis revealed that people living in the most deprived areas of England have experienced coronavirus mortality rates more than double those living in the least deprived areas.

For all virus-related deaths that took place between March 1 and April 17, the mortality rate in the most deprived areas was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population.

By contrast, the rate was 25.3 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived areas.

The analysis, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also shows the Covid-19 mortality rate in the most deprived areas of England has been higher among men (76.7 deaths per 100,000 population) than women (39.6).

The update comes as theHealth Secretary prepares to deliver details on whether the Government has reached its 100,000-a-day testing target.

The latest testing figures show that in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday, 81,611 tests were carried out against a capacity of more than 86,500.

The deadline for hitting the 100,000 goal passed on Thursday but a time lag in reporting results means it will not be known until Friday whether the target was met.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said he thinks the target will have been a “success” even if it is not quiet met.

He told Sky News: “I think we will either have met it or be very close, and in that sense the target will have succeeded because it will have galvanised people across government, in the private sector and across the country.

“This in itself is just a stepping stone; we need to go beyond 100,000, but we have seen now a very substantial increase in testing in quite a short period of time, so in that sense it’s been a success, but there’s more to be done.”

For more on this story go to: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid19-deaths-uk-hospitals-rise-by-447-bringing-death-past-27000-a4429711.html