An extra 445 deaths have been added to the UK’s total coronavirus fatalities, it has been revealed.

Speaking at the daily COVID-19 briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a total of 39,045 people have died in all settings after testing positive for the coronavirus.

This is 556 higher than the equivalent total announced yesterday, although the government reported the day-on-day change as 111.

The difference in the two figures is down to how deaths are being incorporated into historic data retrospectively.

The cumulative total announced by the Department of Health on Sunday was 38,489, which is 556 below today’s cumulative total of 39,045.

But since then, 445 deaths have been added to the historic data.

These are linked to cases that have been identified through testing undertaken by commercial partners, rather than in NHS and Public Health England laboratories.

But instead of including these extra deaths in Monday’s increase, the Department of Health has incorporated them within the previous cumulative total, to create a notional total for Sunday of 38,934 (38,489 + 445).

The difference between this total and Sunday’s total is 111 – with this the one being reported by the government.

It comes after it was announced that there had been just one recorded death of a person with coronavirus in Scotland in the last 24 hours – but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned progress made against COVID-19 was “not irreversible”.

Speaking at the Scottish government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said the latest figures showed “real progress” in stopping the spread of the disease.

A total of 2,363 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for COVID-19, up by one from 2,362 on Sunday.

The number of people who have tested positive in Scotland rose by 18 to 15,418.

Elsewhere in the UK:

• NHS England announced 108 new deaths of people who had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 26,722.
• Public Health Wales said a further five people had died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,347.
• Northern Ireland recorded one more death of a person who had tested positive, taking its total to 524.

Despite the relatively small increases in deaths and new cases, Ms Sturgeon warned: “The virus has been suppressed, but it has not gone away and it is still extremely dangerous.”

Since Friday, people in Scotland from two households have been able to gather outdoors in groups of up to eight, as long as they maintain social distancing.

Sitting and sunbathing in local parks is now also allowed but, while no legal limit has been placed on how far people will be allowed to travel for recreation, the Scottish government’s “strong advice” is to stay within five miles.

The measures form phase one of the Scottish government’s four-step plan for easing the lockdown.

On Monday, Ms Sturgeon thanked the “vast majority” of people for following the new measures, but said there were instances of people breaking the rules as she warned lockdown restrictions could be toughened.

There were 797 dispersals by Police Scotland on Saturday alone, five times higher than the figure from the previous Saturday.

Traffic statistics reported at the briefing were also a “cause for concern”, the first minister added, with road use on Sunday up by 70% on the previous Sunday and a 60% increase on Saturday from the week before.

Traffic on the A82 near Loch Lomond and on the roads around Glencoe was three times higher on Saturday than it had been the previous Saturday.

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