Figures from the Department of Health show the number of UK COVID-19 deaths has risen by 684 to 3,605.

Among those to have died so far are two nurses.

Areema Nasreen, was a 36-year-old nurse and mother-of-three, worked at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands.

She was put on a ventilator after contracting coronavirus has died in hospital yesterday. 

Aimee O'Rourke, a 38-year-old who worked at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, also died in the last 24 hours. 

Her daughter Megan has paid tribute to Aimee on Facebook, writing: "I have no words mummy. Nothing I say could ever explain the feeling I’m feeling right now!!! I cannot wait to hold your hand again when we meet on the other side...We will always be your 3 baby girls."

While a close friend of Areema, who worked at Walsall Manor Hospital, paid tribute to her on social media as she confirmed she had lost her battle against the virus.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Fellow nurse Rubi Aktar said of her friend: “She was the most loveliest, genuine person you could ever meet, she went above and beyond for everyone she met.

"I am so broken that words can’t explain. I can’t believe I will not see your smile again

“I’m so grateful that I had the honour to call her my best friend, she saw me at my best and my worst and accepted my every flaw.

“I am so broken that words can’t explain. I can’t believe I will not see your smile again.”

Speaking early last week, Ms Nasreen’s sister Kazeema, who works as a healthcare assistant at the same hospital, told Sky News the family thinks she could have contracted Covid-19 “virtually anywhere”.

The 22-year-old said her normally fit and health sister, from Walsall, was on annual leave when she first started showing symptoms.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street tweeted: “Such tragic news this morning, my heart goes out to Areema’s family and three children.

“Frontline workers across the West Midlands are risking their lives day after day to protect us, the least we can do to help them is follow Government advice.”

Richard Beeken, chief executive of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “I would like to pay tribute to Areema Nasreen who sadly passed away in the early hours of this morning.

“Any death is devastating but losing one of our own is beyond words.

“Areema was extremely committed to her role as a Staff Nurse on the Acute Medical Unit at Walsall Manor Hospital.”