Official figures released on Friday morning revealed that deaths attributed to the coronavirus in the UK have risen by 181 to 759.
As of 9am, a total of 113,777 people had been tested in the UK, with 99,198 returning negative results, while 14,579 tested positive.
Of patients hospitalised with coronavirus, 759 had died as of 5pm on Thursday, representing a daily increase of 31%.
Deaths in England had risen by 168 to 689, Scotland recorded eight more deaths to bring the country's toll to 33, Wales has registered 34 deaths after six more people died, and Northern Ireland listed three more deaths, bringing its total to 13.
UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK:
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) March 27, 2020
As of 9am 27 March, a total of 113,777 have been tested:
99,198 negative.
14,579 positive.
As of 5pm on 26 March, of those hospitalised in the UK, 759 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/MBuOB994N4
The toll is the seventh highest in the world after Italy, Spain, China, Iran, France and the United States.
In England, patients were aged between 29 and 98 years old and all but four patients, aged between 82 and 91 years old, had underlying health conditions, officials said.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the country's health minister Matt Hancock said they had tested positive after experiencing mild symptoms.
They are now both self-isolating and working from home.
England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, who has been working closely with the pair, said he would self-isolate at home for the next seven days after experiencing symptoms compatible with Covid-19.
The UK will now deploy firefighters to help deliver food, retrieve dead bodies and drive ambulances as it braces for the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
GPs in Northern Ireland have called for a "complete lockdown" to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, amid concerns that some members of the public were still disregarding advice on social distancing.
"The parks you can't go into because there are so many people in them," Dr George O'Neill told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.
"We really have to realise that in 60% of the cases the patient is either totally without symptoms or has very mild symptoms and they are wandering around spreading this infection.
"I think we are at the tipping point, over the next two to three weeks if we can close down completely we will reduce the number of cases, not so many people will end up in our hospitals and our health service will be maintained."
