A person in Tower Hamlets has been confirmed as testing positive for coronavirus.

On Sunday, March 8 the government released the latest regional update of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in England's local authorities.

Of the 273 people in the country who have tested positive for Covid-19, one of the cases has been confirmed in Tower Hamlets.

Nearby, there are five coronavirus cases in Essex and one in Redbridge.

The news comes after a man in his 60s, who had underlying health problems, died at North General Hospital having recently returned from Italy.

This means three people have now died from Covid-19 in the UK.

As of 9am on Sunday, 23,513 people had been tested in the UK, of which 23,240 were confirmed negative and 273 were confirmed as positive.

Prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to hold a Cobra committee meeting today (Monday, March 9) to tackle the outbreak that will require a 'national and international effort'.

Public Health England's advice is to wash your hands more often than usual and for 20 seconds using soap and hot water.

People are also advised to cover their mouths and nose with a tissue when coughing and sneezing, and to clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surgaces to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.