Number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK passes 44,000, according to ONS figures

19 May 2020, 09:48

The number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK has passed 44,000, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

ONS figures released today show that 39,071 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in England and Wales up to May 8 (and had been registered up to May 16).

The latest figures from the National Records of Scotland, published last week, showed 3,213 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to May 10.

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Figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, also published last week, showed 599 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Northern Ireland up to May 13.

Taken together, these figures mean that so far 42,883 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.

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A further 1,211 hospital patients in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between May 9 and May 17, according to figures published yesterday by NHS England - which, together with the total figure of 42,883 registered deaths, indicates the overall death toll for the UK is now just over 44,000.

Figures released today also show that there were 9,980 coronavirus-related care home deaths registered up to May 8 in England and Wales.

At yesterday's daily coronavirus update from the government's official death toll for the UK stood at 34,796.

Today's figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 121,002 deaths were registered in England and Wales between March 21 and May 8 2020.

This was 49,575 more deaths than the average for this period in the previous five years.

Covid-19 was responsible for 37,187 of these excess deaths, or 75.0%.

The ONS said it is continuing to investigate the number of non-Covid-19-related deaths and will publish detailed analysis on this in the future.

The ONS figures also show that there were 39,071 deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales up to May 8 (and which were registered up to May 16).

This compares with 29,349 deaths of people testing positive for Covid-19 reported by the Department of Health and Social Care for the same period.

The ONS total is 33% higher than the Department of Health total.

This is because the ONS figures include all mentions of Covid-19 on a death certificate, including suspected Covid-19, and are based on the date that deaths occurred.

The Department of Health figures are based on when deaths were reported, and are for deaths where a person has tested positive for Covid-19.