The government is facing growing pressure to ramp up coronavirus testing, as the UK saw its biggest daily increase in deaths.

Some 2,352 virus patients had died in hospital as of 17:00 on Tuesday – up 563 in a day, the latest figures show.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said testing was “massively increasing” and it was “the way through” the pandemic.

Meanwhile a major international climate meeting, COP26, is the latest event to be postponed as a result of the virus.

The climate talks were due to take place at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus in November – which is being turned into a temporary field hospital to treat coronavirus patients.

The UN’s climate body, the UNFCCC, and the UK government said the summit would be pushed back to 2021.

In a video message posted on Twitter, the prime minister said Wednesday had been a “sad, sad day” due to the high number of deaths in the UK.

Mr Johnson, who is self-isolating in Downing Street after contracting the virus, also reiterated the government’s commitment to “ramp up” testing.

He said: “This is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle. This is how we will defeat it in the end.”

Credit: BBC