THE NEW HOTSPOT North West overtakes London as Britain’s coronavirus epicentre with more hospital cases than densely-populated capital

THE North West has overtaken London as Britain’s coronavirus epicentre with more hospital cases than the densely-populated capital.

Data shared in Sunday's coronavirus briefing showed infected patients in London had dipped to 2,033 while those in the North West had risen to 2,191.

There are now more people in hospital with Covid-19 in the North West than there are in London

It is the first time a region's total has overtaken the capital - although both totals are lower than their respective peaks.

The number of coronavirus patients in London hospitals peaked at 4,813 on April 8, the highest daily total in the UK.

Meanwhile, cases in the North West of England peaked at 2,908 on April 3, the third highest in the UK after London and the West Midlands.

London remains the area of the UK with the highest number of overall cases (24,828), while the North West is second with 20,125.

It comes as the UK's overall death toll from the bug hit 28,446 today, with 315 more deaths recorded nationwide in the last 24 hours.

You can find how many people have died from Covid-19 in your area here.

The grim jump in deaths means the UK remains one of the worst hit by the deadly bug in the world, with 186,599 cases of the virus.

UK figures published today by NHS England show April 8 continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths occurring on a single day, with a current total of 867.

LIVES LOST

There have been a further five confirmed deaths of patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, according to the Department of Health - bringing the total numbers of deaths in the region to 381.

In Wales, a further 14 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 983.

Another 174 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 10,329.