Britain initially took a gradual approach to containing the virus compared with European countries such as Italy.
Employees wearing protective gear disinfect a tram - as part of preventive measures against the COVID-19 coronavirus (Photo: AFP)
Britain reported a record daily coronavirus count of 381 on Tuesday, more than double the number of nationwide deaths posted in the previous 24 hours.
According to the NHS England said in a statement, the patients were aged between 19 and 98, and all but 28 had underlying health conditions.
The country’s previous highest daily count was 260, recorded on Saturday, with the number dropping to 180 on Monday.
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Some 25,150 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in Britain, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a daily increase of 3,009.
During a press conference, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said, “The increase in the number of deaths is deeply shocking, disturbing (and) moving”.
Britain initially took a gradual approach to containing the virus compared with European countries such as Italy.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed stringent controls after projections showed a quarter of a million people could die. Johnson has since become the first leader of a major power to announce a positive test result for coronavirus.
Britain lags Italy, Spain and France in terms of the number of deaths, but they are still doubling around every 3.5 days.
The government also announced the first medical ventilators which Britain has recently ordered from businesses will be ready this weekend and available to the health service next week.
China, where the disease first emerged in December, registered 48 new cases over the past 24 hours for one death. To date, 76,052 people are considered to have recovered in China.
Last Friday, PM Johnson had tested positive for the deadly virus.
The worldwide number of officially confirmed fatalities from the novel coronavirus has risen to 41,072
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