Another 608 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, marking the highest toll in six months, but there has been another significant drop in case numbers.

Official figures showed that 11,299 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours – the lowest since October 2 – suggesting that England’s national lockdown is working.

But the death toll is the highest since May 12, when 614 people died.

The latest statistics bring the UK’s total number of deaths since the pandemic began to 55,838, while the overall number of cases stands at 1,538,794. Separate figures showing deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate suggest there have now been more than 71,000 deaths involving the virus in the country.

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It comes as England was told it would come out of national lockdown and return to a tiered system as planned on Wednesday, December 2.

Earlier, NHS England said a further 353 people who tested positive for coronavirus had died in the country’s hospitals, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in the setting to 38,865.

Patients were aged between 10 and 100. All except nine, aged between 31 and 90, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between October 24 and November 23, with the majority on or after November 21.

14 other deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

In Scotland, 41 new deaths and 771 positive tests were recorded in the past 24 hours.

That brings the official death toll in the country to 3,544 and the total number of cases to 90,081.

There have also been a further 595 cases of coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 73,828.

Public Health Wales also reported another 21 deaths, taking the total there since the start of the pandemic to 2,406.

In Northern Ireland, another 79 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and a further 11 deaths recorded, the Department of Health said.

It brings the totals there to 947 and 50, 143 respectively.

More to follow.

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