UK Covid-19 confirmed death toll rises 324 to 38,161

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said 38,161 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 324 from 37,837 the day before.

In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, 131,458 tests were carried out or dispatched with 2,095 positive results.

Overall a total of 4,043,686 tests have been carried out and 271,222 cases have been confirmed positive.

Asked about the economic difficulties that may lie ahead, Mr Sunak said there will be hardship ahead for many.

He said: "Many businesses already have been facing an enormous amount of difficulty, many people have already been facing an enormous amount of difficulty.

"You asked about unemployment – despite this extraordinary and significant intervention that we've put in place, I can't and we can't protect every single job and every single business.

"I have aimed and tried to make the scheme as generous as possible in terms of its duration, its flexibility, the contributions we're asking, to try and protect as many of those jobs as possible."

He added: "There will be hardship ahead for many and that rests heavily on my shoulders, and I'm very conscious of that and we are working very hard, and I will work very hard to make sure that all of those who do lose their jobs as a result of what's happening, that I'm working as hard as I can to get them back into work as quickly as possible."