Eight more people being treated for coronavirus in hospital in Norfolk have died.

As of Saturday, April 4, the number of patients who have died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn has increased by three, after the death of two women and a man.

A further three people have also died at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, while at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, two more patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 have died.

In total, 46 people in Norfolk have died in hospital after testing positive for the virus, with 19 cases at the NNUH, 15 at the QEH and 12 at the JPH.

In a statement, Caroline Shaw, chief executive for the QEH, said: “We can confirm today that a further three patients – two women in their 70s and a man in his 60s – who had tested positive for COVID-19 have sadly died while being cared for at our hospital.

MORE: ‘I have been paid to carry out a reputation attack’: Boss tells of another chilling coronavirus scam“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones at this difficult time.”

A JPH spokesman said: “Sadly, we can confirm that three patients who were being cared for at the James Paget University Hospital, and had tested positive for COVID-19, have died. The patients who died were a man in his 60s and a man and woman in their 70s. All three patients had underlying health conditions. Their families have been informed and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this difficult and distressing time.”

The local figures come after the number of people who have died from coronavirus in the UK jumped by 708 to 4,313 in 24 hours - the highest day-on-day increase yet since the outbreak began.

The total number of people who have died in hospitals in England is 3,933, an increase of 637, among them a five-year-old child.

The oldest patient was 104, and 40 had no known underlying conditions, aged between 48 and 93.

It took 20 days for the number of fatalities in the UK to pass 400 and it has taken a further 11 days to pass 4,000.

The UK is now more than 1,300 deaths worse off than Italy at the same stage.

As of 9am on April 4, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK has reached 41,903, an increase of 3,735 in 24-hours.

Today’s figures show that the number of new people tested daily in the UK for coronavirus has slipped back below 10,000.

A total of 9,406 new people were reported as being tested in the 24 hours to 9am April 4.

For the previous two days, the equivalent figure was above 10,000.

MORE: Nurse: NHS staff ‘petrified’ of catching coronavirus and are sending children to relativesThe total number of people in the UK tested since the outbreak began is now 183,190.

This is the equivalent of around 275 people in every 100,000, or 0.3pc of the population.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has taken 15 days to go from just under 4,000 to just over 40,000.