UK coronavirus death toll rises to 31,611 after another 142 people die

Coronavirus deaths have continued to climb in NHS hospitals across the country, with the real death toll in all settings believed to be above 50,000.

The hospital death toll in the UK has climbed to 31,611 after another 142 people died from coronavirus.

The tragic figure includes 123 deaths in England, 14 in Scotland and a further 4 deaths in Wales. Northern Ireland recorded just one death.
Yesterday saw the the UK's coronavirus death toll in hospitals rise by 133 to 31,469, according to statistics the Department of Health.
In Scotland, a total of 2,409 patients have died after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 14 from 2,395 on Thursday.
Speaking at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said 15,582 people have tested positive for the virus across Scotland, up by 29 from 15,553 previous day.

Public Health Wales said a further four people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,383.
Another 76 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 14,314.
The UK currently has the second highest Covid-19 death toll in the world after the US with over 50,000 people dying from confirmed or suspected cases of the disease  in all settings.
Just weeks ago this was reported to be the government's "worst case" scenario.
An increase in excess death indicate that undiagnosed cases are killing more people than previously thought, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.
Today, ONS figures showed that there were 46,380 excess deaths above the five-year average between March 7 and May 1.
Friday's release is the first detailed analysis from the ONS looking at the increased number of deaths during the pandemic where coronavirus was not mentioned on the death certificate.


It found that 28% of excess deaths registered between March 7 and May 1 in England and Wales did not involve coronavirus - a total of 12,900 deaths out of 46,380.
But in an analysis, the ONS said that undiagnosed cases of the disease could explain excess deaths, especially among the older population.
"Undiagnosed Covid-19 is a likely explanation for some of non-Covid-19 excess deaths observed in this setting, because of the increased vulnerability of this population," the ONS said.
Those in care homes have been particularly vulnerable to the illness and the government has been widely criticised for failing to protect the elderly.

There were 5,404 more deaths than expected due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease - a rise of 52% compared with the average number of deaths for this period over five years.
And 1,567 excess deaths occurred due to "symptoms signs and ill-defined conditions" - a 77.8% rise from the five-year average.
The ONS said it was "implausible" that the sharp rise in deaths linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease could have happened by chance.

Coronavirus death tolls explained

Deaths in UK hospitals so far: 31,469
Deaths across all settings: 39,904
(The two figures above count all people who have had a positive test result confirmed by a Public Health or NHS lab in the UK)
Total deaths registered so far: 43,837
(This is the number of registered deaths in England and Wales where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate)
Excess deaths so far in 2020: 56,308
(The number of deaths in England and Wales above the average amount, but not necessarily caused by Covid-19)
Sources: coronavirus.data.gov.uk and ONS

The reproductive rate of coronavirus could be as high as one in some parts of England, the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has said.

He said the prevalence of Covid-19 was on a "downward trajectory" in the UK, adding: "The prevalence of coronavirus, according to the ONS, is at 0.1%, with 53,000 people with Covid-19 in the past two weeks."
He said the incidence rate was at 0.7% per week, which meant there were "roughly" 39,000 new coronavirus cases each week.