A patient with underlying health conditions has become the first person in the UK to die after testing positive for coronavirus.

The older patient had been "in an out of hospital" for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and tested positive.

The news comes as cases of coronavirus in the UK have more than doubled in 48 hours as the country moves towards the "delay phase" of tackling the virus.

Some 116 people have tested positive, including 105 in England, two in Wales, six in Scotland and three in Northern Ireland.

An NHS catch it, bin it, kill it sign on TV screens in the entrance to the QEII Centre in London (Photo: Philip Toscano/PA Wire)

Just two days ago there were 51 UK cases.

A statement from the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said: "Sadly, we can confirm that an older patient with underlying health conditions has died.

"The patient has previously been in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons, but on this occasion was admitted and last night tested positive for coronavirus.

"The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."

England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said he was "very sorry" to report the news and offered "sincere condolences" to the family.

He added: "The patient, who was being treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, was an older patient who had underlying health conditions.

"We believe they contracted the virus in the UK and contact tracing is already underway."

Last week, the Foreign Office confirmed a British tourist who had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Japan, had died from the virus.

Downing Street on Thursday said it is "highly likely" that coronavirus will now spread in a "significant way".

Earlier, Prof Whitty warned that critical care beds in the NHS could come under intense pressure during a coronavirus epidemic.

Of the new cases, 17 people had recently travelled from countries or clusters already under investigation, while eight people contracted the virus in the UK and are being investigated.

Out of the cases identified in England, 25 of them are in London.

The North West and South East each have 17 cases, the South West 15, the East of England eight, the Midlands nine and the North East and Yorkshire 10 cases.

Four other cases are still to be determined.

Local regions reported that two new cases were in Staffordshire, one was linked to the University of Sussex in Brighton, two were in Wigan, one in Rotherham, two in Liverpool, and one in Birmingham.

In other key developments:

- ITV revealed that travel companies are deferring their TV advertising because of the disease, with advertising revenue due to drop 10% in April.

First patient dies from coronavirus in UK as cases double in 48 hours