THE UK has seen its highest day-on-day rise in deaths as a result of coronavirus.

A total of 2,352 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday, the Department of Health said.

This is up by 563 from 1,789 the day before.

The Department of Health also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, a total of 152,979 people have been tested of which 29,474 tested positive.

The jump in coronavirus-related deaths in the UK from 1,789 to 2,352 is an increase of 563, the highest day-on-day rise since the outbreak began.

The total is 31 per cent higher than yesterday.

It took 17 days for the number in the UK to pass 200, and has taken a further 11 days to pass 2,000.

The number of people tested in the UK for coronavirus has passed 150,000.

The total by 9am on April 1 was 152,979.

On average around 8,000 new people were tested a day in the seven days up to April 1. In the previous seven days the daily average was around 5,800.

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK stands at 29,474, as of 9am on April 1.

A week ago, on March 25, the total was 9,529.