An elderly hospital patient has become the second UK victim to have died from Coronavirus.
The man, understood to be in his late 80s, had underlying health conditions and died at Milton Keynes Hospital.
Doctors had carried out tests on the man and have now officially confirmed the man had tested positive for COVID-19.
Other patients on the ward have been isolated while a deep clean of the hospital was carried out.
Hospital staff who nursed the patient are also said to have gone into isolation.
The news came as the latest update from the Government revealed 163 cases have now been recorded in the UK, with one confirmed case in Essex.
That means forty-seven new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the UK over the past 24 hours, one of the largest daily increases seen so far.
On Thursday, a woman reported to be in her 70s, became the first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with Coronavirus.
The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading said the woman had been “in and out of hospital” for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening and tested positive.
As the fear of the virus spreads, there are growing reports of empty shop shelves as people rush to buy products such as hand soap, loo roll, pasta and rice.
Some supermarkets have reported seeing spikes in demand, amid concerns there could be shortages. Chemists have even started rationing sales of hand sanitisers after stocks ran low.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said UK supermarkets have “well-rehearsed contingency plans” to deal with events like the coronavirus outbreak and to make sure products are available in stores.
According to Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, there is “absolutely no reason” for people to panic-buy. The government has contingency plans for the unlikely event that large numbers of people are quarantined.
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