Coronavirus deaths in the UK reach 200,000
More than 200,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, new figures show.
The grim milestone comes as infections and hospital admissions are once again on the rise, driven by the coronavirus subvariant Omicron BA.2 - though the number of deaths remains well below levels reached in previous waves.
A total of 200,247 deaths involving coronavirus have now been registered in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The 200,000 mark was reached on June 25, but has only now been confirmed due to the time it takes for deaths to be registered.
The ONS say Covid-19 deaths have remained low during each of this year's waves, reflecting the success of vaccines in weakening the link between infection and serious illness.
The ONS data shows that the number of deaths involving coronavirus occurring each week has remained mostly below 1,000 since early last year, peaking between 1,000 and 2,000 whenever infections have jumped.
The ONS says mentions of Covid-19 on death certificates has always been the most reliable and consistent measure of coronavirus mortality, as it is not affected by factors such as reduced levels of testing.
It is now the only UK-wide measure of mortality.
People with Covid-19 symptoms are no longer advised to test themselves regularly, while access to free tests is limited to only a small part of the population.
This means that data based just on positive tests are not likely to reflect the true prevalence of coronavirus in the community.