Breaking: UK Coronavirus death toll surpasses 35,000

The UK’s coronavirus death toll is set to officially pass 35,000 today after 227 more fatalities in hospitals were confirmed.

England reported 174 new deaths, Scotland had 29, Wales recorded 17 and Northern Ireland had seven as fatalities in hospitals continue to trend downwards from totals of 425 on May 12, 453 on May 5, 653 on April 28 and 873 on April 21.

The UK death toll in all settings, including care homes, officially stands at 34,796 as of yesterday and will be updated later by the Department of Health.

But the country’s true toll is more than 44,000 as new data from the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of fatalities is 10,000 higher than the Government’s official total.

The NHS reported 174 new deaths in hospitals in England on Tuesday, taking the country’s total to 24,913.

A total of 2,134 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 29 from 2,105 on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

Speaking at the latest Scottish Government coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said 14,655 people have tested positive for Covid-19, a rise of 61 from 14,594 the previous day.

There are 1,447 patients in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, up 20 from 1,427 on Monday, she added.

Of these, 59 were in intensive care, a fall of four.

Public Health Wales said a further 17 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,224.

Another 166 people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,570.

The number of people who have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland has risen to 489 after seven more deaths were reported by the Department of Health.

The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK is nearly 10,000 higher than previously estimated – with the death toll now standing at 44,000.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that by May 8, the number of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales was 39,006 – compared to 29,349 previously declared by the Department for Health.

It brings the current death toll to more than 44,000 when Scotland and Northern Ireland’s deaths are accounted for, and those confirmed by NHS England on dates after May 8. 

In spite of a fall in the number of deaths registered in the seven days to May 8, the number was still more than 3,000 higher than average.

But it is a steep decline on the 12,000 excess deaths reported a fortnight ago.

So far in 2020, the number of people dying is more than 40,000 higher than the average in the past five years, showing the devastating toll the pandemic has taken.

The Department of Health said every death from coronavirus is a “tragedy” and that supporting the social care sector remains a “priority”.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has insisted care homes were not forced to take recovering Covid-19 patients back if they were not able to provide proper support.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “No care home should be forced to take back recovering Covid patients if they don’t feel that they can provide the appropriate care.

So far in 2020, the number of people dying is more than 40,000 higher than the average in the past five years, showing the devastating toll the pandemic has taken.

The Department of Health said every death from coronavirus is a “tragedy” and that supporting the social care sector remains a “priority”.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has insisted care homes were not forced to take recovering Covid-19 patients back if they were not able to provide proper support.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “No care home should be forced to take back recovering Covid patients if they don’t feel that they can provide the appropriate care.

“Scientists provide advice to the Government, ministers ultimately decide.”

Downing Street would not give a date for when the new contact tracing programme will begin.

The spokesman said: “All of those recruited have either been trained or will begin training shortly and they will be ready to begin work soon.

“It will begin shortly and I would expect us to have more to say about this in the coming days.”

He said that there would not necessarily need to be more contact tracers hired because the app is not yet ready for nationwide roll-out.

“I’ve not seen the suggestion of the two being linked,” he said.

As the Government prepares to introduce a 14-day quarantine for most international travellers arriving in the UK, so-called air bridges between the UK and countries with low coronavirus infection rates are being considered but are not agreed policy, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “It’s an option under consideration but not agreed Government policy.”

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