The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Norfolk has swelled to 24.

The latest statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have revealed an additional seven cases have been confirmed in the county, as the national death toll passes 230.

It comes as the government also confirmed the largest number of deaths as a result of the pandemic in a single day in the England, with 53 Covid-19 patients dying in the past 24 hours.

NHS England said in a statement: “A further 53 people, who tested positive for the Coronavirus (Covid-19), have died - bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in England to 233.

“Patients were aged between 41 and 94 years old and all had underlying health conditions.”

On a national level, 5,018 people have now tested as positive for the illness, out of 71,818 people to have taken tests. As of 9am on Saturday, March 21, 67,800 tests had come back negative.

These figures include 24 confirmed cases in Norfolk and 15 in Suffolk and have seen the biggest jump in case numbers yet - 1,035 new cases nationally.

On Friday, it was confirmed that the two men had died after being diagnosed with the virus in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, the first fatalities in the county.

One man was aged in his 60s and the other in his 70s and both had underlying health conditions. The pair were not related or connected to one another.

It comes on a day that NHS England announced it had reached a ground-breaking deal to draft in thousands of private sector nurses to back up the NHS in its response to the outbreak.

• For updates, join our Facebook page here.MORE: John Lewis announces temporary closures of stores