By Eric King
The number of excess deaths registered in the UK during the Covid-19 outbreak has almost reached 60,000, as an international comparison showed that the UK has one of the world’s highest rates of Coronavirus per capita
Figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed falling cases.
The figures were released as University of Oxford researchers reported that the UK had the third-highest daily death rate internationally – 4.49 deaths per million people per day.
Sweden and Brazil are the only ones that come off worse, the former with a rate of 4.68, and the latter at 4.49.
The UK Guardian released the compiled figures for the site Our World in Data are based on a rolling seven-day average and are updated daily. On Monday the British rate was the worst in the world at 4.54 deaths per million per day.
It draws on data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Factors used include population size, testing and the way in which different states recorded fatalities.
Data released on Tuesday revealed there had been 53,960 excess deaths in England and Wales from the start of the outbreak to 15 May.
In the two weeks to 15 May there were 27,230 deaths from all causes in England and Wales- 38% above the five-year average for the period. This was down from 80.6% in the preceding week, showing a falling rate of excess deaths.
Deaths
There were 4,210 deaths involving Covid-19 registered in England and Wales in the week ending 15 May, the fewest since the week ending 3 April.
Scotland recorded 4,434 excess deaths in Scotland between 23 March and 17 May, and Northern Ireland recorded 834 excess deaths between 21 March and 15 May, giving a total for the UK of 59,228 up to 17 May.
Details released from a separate ONS survey of the social impact of Coronavirus, reveal that almost one-third of people in Britain lived with someone who self-isolated because of the pandemic in April, the month in which Dominic Cummings drove his family 250 miles north from their home in London.
The study also concluded that people in London had the lowest awareness of the government’s “stay at home” guidelines in April, while awareness was highest in the West Midlands.
Overall, the proportion of all deaths that involve Covid-19 and the number of excess deaths compared with the five-year average continue to decrease.
The total number of deaths from all causes rose by 1,916 to 14,573 in the week ending 15 May, after a dip as a result of the early May bank holiday in the previous week.The disease was mentioned on the death certificates of 42,173 people in England and Wales up to 15 May, the ONS data shows.