UK passes 60,000 Covid-19 deaths as 414 more are recorded

3 December 2020, 16:19 | Updated: 3 December 2020, 17:08

The UK has passed 60,000 Covid-19 deaths after another 414 were recorded on Thursday, according to official figures.

A further 14,879 new cases of coronavirus have also been reported in the last 24 hours.

There have now been 1,674,134 confirmed cases in the UK since the outbreak began, while the overall death toll stands at 60,113.

The only countries to record more deaths are the US, Brazil, India and Mexico, but the UK has more deaths per 100,000 people than any of those countries.

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The UK is the seventh highest across the world for deaths per 100,000 people, behind Belgium, San Marino, Peru, Andorra, Spain and Italy, according to John Hopkins University.

Separate figures published in the UK for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate and deaths that have occurred in recent days show there have now been 76,000 deaths involving the virus.

Earlier NHS England said 295 more people who tested positive for coronavirus had died in English hospitals, bringing the total death toll in the setting to 41,605.

Patients were aged between 39 and 99. All except 11, aged between 53 and 91, had known underlying health conditions.

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The deaths were between October 24 and December 2, with the majority on or after November 30.

In Scotland, 51 deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today, while Wales recorded 24 more deaths and Northern Ireland 11.

Earlier this week England exited a month-long lockdown and entered back into a tiered system, with the vast majority of the country under tough restrictions in the top two tiers.

According to Public Health England, case rates are falling in every region of the country.

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Figures released on Thursday reveal the biggest drop was in north-east England, where the rate stood at 181.7 per 100,000 people in the week to November 29, down from 286.6 in the previous week.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the rate dropped from 284.2 to 181.2.

West Midlands recorded the highest rate of any region in England: 192.4, down from 282.3. South-west England had the lowest rate: 88.8, down from 130.8.

Meanwhile, just weeks after a firebreak lockdown, Covid cases in Wales are on the increase again and as a result, the country will enter new lockdown restrictions from Friday.