Coronavirus: UK death toll reaches 8 with 2 new fatalities

The United Kingdom has witnessed two more fatalities caused by the coronavirus, taking the death toll to eight in the country, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said on Wednesday (local time).

"I am sorry to confirm a seventh and eight patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 have sadly died ... One was an older patient who was being treated at George Eliot Hospital ... The second patient in their 70s at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust was being treated for underlying health conditions," Whitty said in a statement.

The number of coronavirus infection cases in the United Kingdom has increased by 83 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of those infected to 456.

The United Kingdom is among 10 countries in Europe that were most affected by the epidemic spread, while the most critical situation is in Italy, where the total number of cases of novel coronavirus infection surpassed 12,400 with 827 fatalities.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus situation can be now characterised as a pandemic.

Globally, there are more than 121,000 confirmed cases in over 110 countries, with more than 4,300 deaths and 66,000 people having recovered from the disease.