UK: Coronavirus death toll surpasses 43,500

British health authorities announced on Saturday that 100 more people died from the novel coronavirus across the UK over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 43,514.

The Department of Health tweeted: "As of 9 am 27 June, there have been 9,067,577 tests, with 155,359 tests on 26 June. 310,250 people have tested positive."

It added: "As of 5pm on 26 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 43,514 have sadly died."

The UK ranked the first in Europe in terms of the number of deaths from COVID-19, and third in the world after the US and Brazil.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed over 495,600 people worldwide, with infections surpassing 9.86 million and more than 4.98 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.