The NHS has announced another 178 deaths in England of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in English hospitals to 23,150.

There have been another 10 confirmed deaths in Scotland, 12 more in Wales, and five in Northern Ireland.

The UK-wide figure, which also includes deaths in care homes and the community, will be announced later.

Experts have previously warned against over-interpreting daily figures of people dying with Covid-19 in the UK, since they often reflect reporting delays.

Spikes or dips may in part reflect bottlenecks in the reporting system, rather than real changes in the trend.

Many hospitals will not report deaths that happened over the weekend until the middle of the following week.