The UK has recorded 737 new coronavirus-related hospital deaths, taking the total number to 10,612.
It comes after one of the government’s senior scientific advisers said the UK is likely to be among the worst-affected European countries.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “today marks a sombre day”, but welcomed efforts people had made to stay at home.
The number of reported deaths does not include deaths outside of hospitals.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson thanked healthcare workers for saving his life after being discharged from hospital.
Mr Hancock told the daily press briefing: “Today marks a sombre day in the impact of this disease as we join the list of countries who have seen more than 10,000 deaths related to coronavirus.
“The fact that over 10,000 people have now lost their lives to this invisible killer demonstrates just how serious this coronavirus is and why the national effort that everyone is engaged in is so important.”
Speaking about those who have lost their lives to Covid-19, Mr Hancock said: “Their grief is our grief and their stories will not be forgotten.”
He also congratulated the British public for “rising to this challenge” of staying at home.
“Your steadfast commitment to following these social distancing rules is making a difference,” he added.
Ministers are continuing to urge people to stay at home over the Easter weekend to curb the spread of the virus, despite warm and sunny weather across parts of the UK.
The increase of 737 deaths is less than the daily total announced on Saturday, when the UK recorded 917 new coronavirus deaths.
Today’s fall in the number of newly announced deaths of people with coronavirus is of little comfort as we pass the tragic milestone of 10,000.
And we know that the true death toll to date is higher: this figure doesn’t include people who have died with coronavirus but whose death has not yet been reported to the Department for Health.
But it could have been worse.
Up until last weekend, this figure was doubling every three-and-a-half days. Had that continued, we might have seen over 2,500 deaths announced today.
That growth has not happened. Today’s fall could be attributed to less reporting of deaths over a bank holiday.
Even if we have not turned the corner, the number of deaths announced each day has held below 1,000 throughout the week.
That is still a terrifying figure.
But the slowdown in the growth of new cases, of people hospitalised with coronavirus and in deaths all add to the evidence that the lockdown is working.