Three more deaths at Royal Bolton Hospital have been linked to coronavirus.

Figures released by NHS England this afternoon confirmed two patients had died with the virus on Tuesday, taking the day's total to five, whilst one patient died yesterday.

A total of 163 people have now died in the borough's hospital after contracting coronavirus.

The news comes as Downing Street insisted that the government was "working hard" to hit its target of testing 100,000 for the virus by the end of the day.

As of yesterday, testing capacity had been increased to 77,365 with 42 drive-through test sites and 17 mobile sites operational.

NHS England also confirmed hospitals across the country had recorded 391 new deaths of patients who tested positive for covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths in English hospitals to 20,131.

Yesterday, Public Health England said the total number of coronavirus related deaths was around 17 per cent higher than previously reported.

The body said it was reporting an additional 3,811 deaths since the start of the outbreak, taking confirmed deaths across the UK to 26,097.

More than 165,000 people across the UK have tested positive for covid-19, with 732 cases of the virus confirmed in the borough as of 9am yesterday morning.