UK coronavirus death toll passes 55,000, tally of official data shows
The UK’s coronavirus death toll has hit 55,398, according to a tally of official data collated by Reuters.
The number of deaths is more than 10,000 higher than reported by the government, and comprises fatalities where the virus is mentioned on death certificates and in suspected cases.
The UK government’s official death toll is 44,236, which counts only confirmed deaths from coronavirus.
Of the deaths registered in that week, 606 mentioned coronavirus, the lowest number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the last 13 weeks.
In London, the number of deaths involving coronavirus was 5, down from 50 in the previous week and 71 a fortnight earlier. The North West continues to be the worst affected region, with 120 deaths.
There were a total of 8,979 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 26 June, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is the second consecutive week that deaths have been below the five-year average. The number of deaths in care homes and hospitals were also fewer than the five-year average – 103 and 815 deaths lower respectively.
Coronavirus accounted for 6.7 per cent of all deaths in the week in England and Wales. The ONS said some of the deaths that had been registered as coronavirus would have “likely occurred over the duration of the year” but have “occurred earlier because of the coronavirus”. This is because the virus has had a significant impact on those most vulnerable and among the elderly population.