UK’s REAL coronavirus death toll is at least 10,000 too low

Britain’s real coronavirus death toll is almost 11,000 higher than the government’s official tally, according to grim data released today. 

Figures compiled from the statistical bodies of each of the home nations show 51,086 people have died of either confirmed or suspected Covid-19 across the UK. For comparison, the number given by the Department of Health — which only counts lab-confirmed deaths each day — stands at just 40,597.

The real number of victims will be even higher because the tally only takes into account deaths that occurred up until May 31 in Scotland and May 29 in the rest of Britain.  

Separate statistics released today also show nearly 64,000 more people than usual have died in the UK since the Covid-19 crisis spiralled out of control in March.

The figures come after Britain announced just 55 Covid-19 deaths yesterday, in the lowest daily toll since before lockdown. London hospitals recorded no new fatalities for the first time since mid-March, while both Scotland and Northern Ireland went a second day without any victims. 

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the statistical body for England and Wales, also showed weekly deaths in the seven-day spell ending May 29 plummeted to the lowest rate all year. Only 9,824 deaths were registered in the two countries that week — still 1,600 deaths higher than what would usually be expected. 

The Office for National Statistics today confirmed that 46,421 people in England and Wales died with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 by May 29.

The number of coronavirus deaths was 754 by the same day in Northern Ireland, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

National Records Scotland — which collects statistics north of the border — said 3,911 people had died across the country by May 31.

Their tallies are always 10 days behind the Department of Health (DH) because they wait until as many fatalities as possible for each date have been counted, to avoid having to revise their statistics.

By comparison, the DH announces deaths for each day as soon as it receives them, meaning they are continuously updated as more registrations filter through the system.

Because of this recording lag, the number of deaths announced on any date is significantly higher by the time the ONS has calculated it. 

The difference between the statistics agencies’ total and the Department of Health total for May 29 is around 33.8 per cent (51,074 compared to 38,161).

If the most recent death toll announced by the government was increased by the same amount it would mean that there have already been 54,100 Covid-19 victims who died. 

The ONS figures also showed less than a fifth of deaths registered in the week ending May 29 in England and Wales involved coronavirus — the lowest proportion since when lockdown was imposed on March 23. 

There were 9,824 deaths registered in the week ending May 29 — a fall from the previous week but still 1,653 deaths higher than what would usually be expected, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.  

Of these, 1,822 involved Covid-19 — 18.5 per cent of the total that week and the lowest number of weekly coronavirus deaths for eight weeks. 

It is also the first time the proportion of weekly Covid-19 deaths has fallen to under a fifth since the week lockdown was imposed, the week ending March 27, when the virus accounted for 5 per cent of the deaths. 

While numbers are falling, there have been tens of thousands of ‘excess’ deaths compared to the average number of deaths over five years for the same period. 

The total number of excess deaths has passed 63,500, with Tuesday’s figures showing 57,961 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and May 29 2020.