More than 70,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK – up from 67,000 a week ago.
The total is based on the latest available reports on death registrations, plus more recent data on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.
The figure revealed today is significantly higher than the 54,286 recorded by the Government.
The current preferred measure of the official death toll – which is listed on the Government’s Covid dashboard – counts only those people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Figures published on Friday by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency show 1,227 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in Northern Ireland up to November 13, and had been registered by November 18.
More than 70,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK – up from 67,000 a week ago. Pictured: A nurse administering a test at Dimensions Leisure Centre in Stoke-on-Trent earlier this month
The figure revealed today is significantly higher than the 54,286 recorded by the Government
Separate figures published earlier this week by the National Records of Scotland showed 5,135 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to November 15.
And a total of 59,549 coronavirus-related deaths occurred in England and Wales up to November 6 and had been registered up to November 14, according to the latest report from the Office for National Statistics.
Together, these figures mean that so far 65,911 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
But since these statistics were compiled, a further 4,343 deaths are known to have occurred in the UK, according to additional data published on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.
In England, 3,957 Covid-19 deaths are known to have taken place between November 7 and 19, with 262 in Wales.
In Northern Ireland 66 deaths occurred between November 14 and 19, while in Scotland 58 deaths took place between November 16 and 19.
When all these totals are added together, it means that so far 70,254 deaths involving Covid-19 have taken place in the UK.
This figure is drastically larger than the number recorded by the Government.
The total is based on the latest available reports on death registrations, plus more recent data on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard. Pictured: Soldiers set up at the Liverpool Tennis Centre in Wavertree, ahead of the start of mass Covid-19 testing earlier this month
Their preferred measure of the official death toll – which counts only those people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – currently stands at 54,286 after a further 511 deaths were recorded today.
Official figures released today also showed another 20,252 people have tested positive for coronavirus.
While deaths are continuing to rise – with today’s 511 a 36 per cent increase from 376 this time last week – cases are down by 26 per cent from the 27,301 recorded last Friday.
And this week’s results from the Office for National Statistics mass testing survey suggest that England’s second wave peaked at the start of lockdown, with the estimated daily infections tumbling by 18 per cent in the first week of the shutdown, from 47,700 to 38,900 per day by November 14.
The Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said the reproduction ‘R’ rate – the average number of people each Covid-19 patient passes the disease to – had fallen slightly to a maximum of 1.1, from a maximum of 1.2 last week, and could be as low as 1.0 or lower in every region of Britain
SAGE today said the R rate of the virus, which denotes how many people each infected person gives the virus to, has fallen for a second week in a row and could be at 1.0 or lower in every region of the UK. The whole-country estimate is at between 1.0 and 1.1, the lowest figure since the start of September before the second wave began.
But even though the second peak of coronavirus is ‘flattening’, the public must ‘keep our resolve’ for the rest of the lockdown to prevent it rebounding, Matt Hancock told the Downing Street press conference today.
He said it was still too early to say what contact people will be able to have over Christmas and what additional restrictions may be required after lockdown is eased.