THE UK official death toll neared 40,000 yesterday as another 359 Covid-19 fatalities were reported.

A further 179 people, who tested positive for coronavirus were announced to have died in England's hospital, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths there to 27,044.

Patients were aged between 12 and 97 years old, with four of the 179 patients (aged between 78 and 93) having no known underlying health condition.

Oxfordshire hospitals, however, have continued to report no new fatalities from the virus.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the John Radcliffe Hospital and Banbury’s Horton General Hospital, has recorded 177 virus deaths, with the most recent announced on May 22.

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Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has reported 22 deaths.

All figures are measured as of 5pm on Tuesday.

There have now been 2,077 positive tests for coronavirus in Oxfordshire, with an infection rate in the county of 302.1 per 100,000 people.

Globally there have been more than 6.4 million cases confirmed of coronavirus, with 1.8 million in the US alone.

The UK has the fourth highest number of Covid-19 cases at 279,856, behind the US, Brazil and Russia.

It also continues to have the second highest death toll from the virus at 39,728. A further 359 deaths were reported yesterday.

This is measured by Johns Hopkins University which has been monitoring the outbreak since January via an online map.