A further 563 patients with coronavirus have died in the UK, taking the total number of deaths in hospitals to 2,352.
The Department of Health said 29,474 people have tested positive for the virus, up 4,324 since Tuesday.
Following criticism, the government said it hopes to increase daily tests for frontline workers from "thousands to hundreds of thousands" within weeks.
A doctor who came out of retirement to volunteer for the NHS became the fourth UK medic to die with the virus.
Dr Alfa Sa'adu had been volunteering at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn when he contracted the virus, which causes the disease Covid-19.
His son Dani Saadu posted online that his dad had died after "fighting the virus for two weeks".
"The NHS were amazing and did everything they could," he said.
"My dad was a living legend, worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years saving people's lives here and in Africa."
'Up tick' in car journeys
Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE medical director, told a daily coronavirus briefing in Downing Street that the UK was not in "as severe" a position as Spain, the US or Italy, but added there was "no reason to be complacent".
She said while the spread of coronavirus was most advanced in London, the Midlands region - where more than 3,500 people have tested positive for the virus - was "obviously a concern" too.
Dr Doyle added while use of public transport had gone down since the government enforced social distancing measures, there had been an "up-tick" in motor transport. She urged members of the public to stay home to "protect the NHS".
'Hundreds of thousands' of tests promised
The government has been under pressure to increase the screening of medics, so that those who are self-isolating unnecessarily can return to work.
More than 3,500 NHS frontline staff in England and Wales have been tested for the virus since the outbreak began but cabinet minister Michael Gove said a shortage of chemicals needed for the tests meant the NHS - which employs 1.2m in England - could not screen all its staff for the virus.
Dr Doyle said there was currently capacity for about 3,000 tests a day for frontline NHS staff, which will increase.
She said the "intention" was for testing for frontline staff to increase from "thousands to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks".
No 10 said test capacity would increase with an additional network of labs and testing sites.
The PM's official spokesman said the government was "working with NHS England, Public Health England and others to ensure that happens".
The latest increase in the number of people who have died relates to the 24 hours up to 17:00 BST on Tuesday.
Have things got worse?
Just yesterday health officials were talking about "green shoots" amid signs the virus maybe plateauing.
Yet today we have seen a big rise in deaths. Have things got worse?
Not necessarily. We know the number of deaths are going to go up - that is to be expected.
What matters is the trend over a few days - not what happens over the course of 24 hours.
Any signs of progress will be seen in the number of cases first.
For the past five days the new cases has been hovering between 2,500 and 3,000 each day.
Now it has gone up by 4,300. That is a substantial rise, but over the course of the past week the trajectory has still slowed from what it had been.
All eyes will be on what happens in the next few days to see if the hope of a slow down was misplaced.
Read more from Nick on how to understand the coronavirus death toll.
Joining Dr Doyle in the Downing Street briefing, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said financial support packages introduced by the government were beginning to help ease the economic impact of the pandemic on businesses.
He said: "Just as the taxpayer stepped in to help the banks in 2008, we will help the banks to do everything they can to repay that favour and support the businesses and people of the UK in their time of need."
Mr Sharma added Chancellor Rishi Sunak would give more information "in the coming days" on how businesses will be supported further.
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The BBC's head of statistics Robert Cuffe said the latest increases in the number of patients dying with coronavirus balance out with the below-average rises on Sunday and Monday.
He said the number of new deaths has been increasing at a slightly slower rate than earlier in the epidemic, "but if that keeps up, we'd expect to see in the region of a thousand deaths a day by the weekend".
Meanwhile Prince Charles has spoken of the "distressing" effect of isolation following his recovery from the virus.
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Downing Street said 390 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, alcohol wipes and aprons, have been delivered to NHS staff over the last two weeks.
The prime minister's official spokesperson said the government was working with a number of suppliers which had come forward with offers of PPE, or proposals to manufacture more.
It follows criticism from some frontline workers over the lack of protective equipment, with staff at one hospital in Essex warning they could "limit services" to patients with coronavirus "to a bare minimum" over fears for their own safety.
The prime minister's spokesperson also said the NHS will be sent 30 new ventilators next week and promised "hundreds" more would follow.
The NHS is reported to have 8,175 ventilators and the government believes up to 30,000 ventilators could be needed at the peak of the pandemic.
In other developments:
- In the past 15 days, NHS 111 has responded to more than 1.7 million inquiries from people concerned they might have symptoms of coronavirus
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock said hospitals should use spare laboratory space to test self-isolating NHS staff in England for coronavirus
- Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War Two because of the pandemic
- All Champions League and Europa League matches have been suspended "until further notice" by Uefa
- The Edinburgh Festival, due to take place in August, has been cancelled
- The Ministry of Defence said 80 armed forces personnel would be sent to staff ambulances and 999 call centres across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Surrey
- Some of the UK's biggest banks have agreed to scrap dividend payments and hold onto the cash, which may be needed during the coronavirus crisis
- New research suggests a loss of smell or taste may be a sign that you have coronavirus
- An app that alerts people if they have recently been in contact with someone testing positive for the virus "could play a critical role" in limiting lockdown
- Pregnant prisoners could be granted temporary release from prison "within days" to protect them and their unborn children from the virus.
Do you work in the NHS? Have you been tested? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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2020-04-01 13:37:15Z
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