UK now has world’s third highest virus-related death toll
The UK has the third highest coronavirus death toll in the world after the British government published new figures that include deaths outside of hospitals.
After factoring in deaths in all settings such as care homes, the number of people in Britain who have died after testing positive for the virus has now hit 26,097, way ahead of the 21,678 announced on Wednesday. Until now, hospital deaths have been reported daily, while deaths in nursing homes and other settings were reported on a weekly basis.
Under the new measurement, the UK has leapfrogged Spain and France in Europe, with only Italy ahead. The US has the world’s highest death toll.
The upward revision prompted renewed criticism of the government’s approach to the crisis. The new leader of the Labour Party, Keir
Starmer, said the scale of deaths in the UK is “truly dreadful” and he has accused the Conservative government of being too slow in putting the country into lockdown, in testing people and in getting protective gear for medical workers.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab sought to ease any worries, saying the additional deaths were a cumulative total going back to March 2.
“They don’t represent a sudden surge in the number of deaths,” he said at the government’s daily press briefing.
In spite of that, it is becoming increasingly clear that the UK could end up with the second highest coronavirus death toll in the world, partly because Italy is considered to be a couple of weeks ahead in the epidemic. There is also an acknowledgement that the new figures underestimate the death toll in care homes as they only include those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Also, the death certificates of those dying in care homes can take a couple of weeks to be issued. Professor Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said the new figures, which her organisation helped to compile, provide “a comprehensive picture, and this is most important for control”.
In spite of the grim death news, the trends in most of the virus-related numbers are heading in the right direction. The number of people being hospitalised with Covid-19 has been falling for about three weeks, particularly in London, which was the epicentre of the outbreak in the country. Also, Covid-19-related deaths are falling when measured on a seven-day rolling basis.
Doyle said she could not yet say whether deaths in care homes were falling but that “we should know that soon because the hospital curve has declined”.
Raab said it was too soon for the government to make an assessment as to whether its five tests on easing the lockdown restrictions have been met. Among those tests are a “sustained and consistent fall” in daily coronavirus-related daily deaths, and reliable data showing that the rate of inflection has moderated to manageable levels.
“We are coming through the peak but we are not there yet, which is why we are keeping our focus on the social distancing measures,” he said.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or Sage, is due to deliver its latest advice to ministers in the next few days but it is likely lockdown restrictions will be extended.
Earlier this week on his return to work after recovering from Covid-19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said the country was at “the moment of maximum risk”. Johnson missed Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday because his partner gave birth to a baby boy.