NUMBER of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Oldham has risen to 82.

The figure has just been released by Public Health England and is a sharp rise from yesterday's figure of 73.

Scientists have warned that the UK's coronavirus death toll will continue to rise as the outbreak moves towards an expected peak in two to three weeks.

More than 1,000 people have died after contracting the virus, the Department of Health revealed on Saturday.

Covid-19 related deaths in the UK jumped from 759 to 1,019 - an increase of 260 and by far the biggest day-on-day rise since the outbreak began.

Brendan Wren, Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the report of the further UK deaths "approximates to a person dying every five minutes in our hospitals from Covid-19".

He added: "With the doubling rate of infection every four/five days and the epidemic expected to peak in two/three weeks it is possible that we may get to much higher levels in the coming weeks before we see if the social distancing interventions have an impact.

"Coupled with the observation that the infection can affect all walks of life even without underlying health conditions, this may be a sobering thought for any of the population flouting hygiene measures and/or social distancing."