Five-year-old becomes Britain's youngest coronavirus victim

A five-year-old child with underlying health conditions has become the youngest victim of coronavirus in Britain, health officials have confirmed.

NHS England said the child is among 637 Covid-19 hospital patients who died up to 5pm on Friday, the oldest of which was 104.

Of these new fatalities, 40 patients aged between 48 and 93 had no underlying medical conditions.

It comes after a 13-year-old boy from Brixton, south London, died in King's College Hospital this week after contracting the virus.

His family could not attend his funeral after his siblings developed symptoms.

Most of the latest deaths were concentrated in the Midlands - 212 - compared to 127 in London and 17 in the South West.

Britain saw 708 new deaths on Friday, a record daily rise bringing the total to 4,313 since the pandemic began, but the rise in confirmed infections has narrowed, up 3,735 to 41,903.