Covid-19 recorded on death certificate of over 150,000 people in the UK
30 March 2021, 15:45
More than 150,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate, new figures show.
The total includes all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.
The figures, which have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that 150,116 deaths involving coronavirus have occurred in the UK since the pandemic began.
Of the 150,116 deaths involving coronavirus reported by the ONS, 55,407, 37%, occurred since the start of 2021.
The milestone was actually passed on March 18, but has only now been confirmed due to the time it takes for deaths to be registered.
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The cumulative total passed 100,000 on January 7 and reached 125,000 just 19 days later on January 26. It then took a further 51 days to reach 150,000.
The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,469 on January 19. During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on April 8 2020.
The figures show how the number of deaths has slowed dramatically in recent weeks, however.
The daily death toll dropped below 400 on February 22, below 300 on February 26 and below 200 on March 7.
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This comes as it was found roughly half of the UK's population now has antibodies for Covid-19, according to the latest estimates from the ONS.
The findings mean that more than 50 per cent of people living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have either had coronavirus in the past or have received a dose of the vaccine in the week to 14 March.
England has the highest percentage of people with antibodies - 54.7 per cent - according to the ONS estimate, followed by Wales - 50.5 per cent - and Northern Ireland (49.3 per cent).
