Thirty-one people have now died as a result of coronavirus in Norfolk, as a further six deaths were confirmed at the county’s hospitals.

Of those announced on Wednesday, three patients died at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, two at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn and one at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.

The number of positive cases in Norfolk, rose by 27 on Thursday, with 207 people now confirmed to have tested positive for the virus.

It comes as the UK recorded its highest day-on-day increase as a further 569 people died from coronavirus.

A statement from NHS England on UK-wide figures said: “Patients were aged between 22 and 100 years old. Forty-four of the 561 patients (aged between 25 and 100 years old) had no known underlying health condition.”

Caroline Shaw, chief executive for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, confirmed two male patients, one in his 60s, and one in their 70s, had died after testing positive for Covid-19.

A statement from the James Paget hospital said a woman in her 80s had died after testing positive for the virus. The hospital said the patient had underlying health conditions.

The Norfolk and Norwich hospital confirmed the death of three men being treated at the hospital.

A spokesman said: “Sadly we can confirm that three patients who were being cared for at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and had tested positive for COVID-19, have died.

The patients who died were a man in his 50s with no underlying health conditions. The other two patients who died were both male; one in his 90s and one in their 70s. Both had underlying health conditions. Their families have been informed.”

The Department of Health announced the number of deaths in the UK has reached 2,921 on Thursday.

The figures confirmed that 33,718 people have now tested positive for the virus, an increase of 4,244 - 80 fewer cases than the previous day’s increase.

Read more: Doctor’s plea for snorkelling mask exposes lack of coronavirus protectionThe government was able to carry out more than 10,000 tests for the first time as 10,657 people were tested in England in a 24-hour period.

It is part of a promise to amp up the number of tests, to reach as many as 25,000 a day.

The DoH figures confirmed that as of 9am on April 2, a total of 163,194 people have been tested, with 33,718 testing positive.

Read more: Coronavirus cases in Norfolk rise to 180Figures from Public Health England of the latest Norfolk figures will be released in due course.