More than 900 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours in the UK – the highest daily figure so far.

Figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care show 60,733 people tested positive for the virus across the UK as of 9am April 8 – with 5,492 of these cases being detected in the last 24 hours.

MORE: Follow the latest coronavirus news here

A total of 12,959 tests were carried out in the same period, the most carried out in a 24-hour period in the UK so far. The target set by Health Secretary Matt Hancock is 100,000 tests every day by the end of April.

Sadly, 938 more people have died in hospitals across the UK, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,097 as of 5pm April 7.

The youngest person to die so far was a five-year-old child who had underlying health conditions.

MORE: Join our Facebook groups for the latest Suffolk coronavirus updates

Figure for each county and region in the UK will be released by Public Health England later this afternoon.

Deaths at specific hospitals in the region were published earlier today, with four more patients at Colchester Hospital and two more at Ipswich Hospital dying due to Covid-19.

There were no deaths reported at West Suffolk Hospital in the last 24 hours.

In a bid to control the rising number of cases and deaths, police and government officials have reiterated the need to stay at home where possible and to maintain a distance of at least two meters from people you are not living with.

MORE: Get our headlines sent straight to your inbox with our News Alerts