The daily update published by the UK’s health ministry on Friday showed that the total number of confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 5,386 to 143,464 as of Friday morning.
Meanwhile, the death toll in hospitals in the UK rose by 684 to 19,506 as of 1600 GMT on Thursday.
Market reaction
The UK’s FTSE 100 Index remains on track to end the last day of the week in the negative territory. As of writing, the index was down 0.66% on the day at 5,788 points.