Excess deaths in UK pass 65,000 – what the latest Covid-19 figures tell us

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest data for the number of deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales.

Here are five things the figures tell us about the situation across the whole of the UK.

– There have been more than 65,000 excess deaths in the UK since the outbreak began

Tuesday’s figures from the ONS show there were 59,252 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and June 12 2020.

Data published last week by the National Records of Scotland found there were 4,877 excess deaths in Scotland between March 16 and June 14, while the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency put the figure for Northern Ireland at 972 excess deaths between March 28 and June 12.

Together, this means the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period now stands at 65,101.

Excess deaths are the number of deaths that are above the five-year average.

The figures are based on death registrations.

– Deaths in Wales and north-east England have fallen below the weekly average

There were 574 deaths registered in Wales in the week ending June 12, 2% below the five-year average for the same period.

In north-east England the figure was 3% below the average.

For both parts of the country, it is the first time the number of registered deaths has fallen below the average since the coronavirus outbreak began.

The overall number of excess deaths in England and Wales per week has fallen from a peak of 11,854 in the week ending April 17 to 559 in the week ending June 12.

– The number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK is now just over 54,000

Tuesday’s ONS figures show that 48,866 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in England and Wales up to June 12, and had been registered by June 20.

Figures published last week by the National Records for Scotland showed that 4,070 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to June 14.

And data from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, also published last week, showed 802 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in Northern Ireland up to June 12, and had been registered up to June 17.

Together these figures mean that so far 53,738 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.

Between June 13 and June 21, a further 317 hospital patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in England, according to NHS England; while a further 29 people in hospital and care homes who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in Wales, according to Public Health Wales.

And in Northern Ireland, a further five people who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between June 13 and June 21, according to the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

These add up to a further 351 deaths that have occurred since June 13, and together with the total figure of 53,738 registered deaths, mean the overall Covid-19 death toll for the UK is now just over 54,000, at 54,089.

Details of deaths that took place in Scotland since the cut-off point for the latest registration data (June 14) are not available, because the Scottish Government does not report deaths by the date on which they occurred.

– The UK passed 50,000 deaths on May 24

As more historic data on death registrations is published by the ONS, a sharper picture has emerged of how the coronavirus outbreak unfolded.

It is now clear that the total number of UK deaths involving Covid-19 passed 50,000 on May 24 – several days earlier than originally thought.

The 40,000 mark was also passed earlier than previously thought, on May 2.

The UK passed 10,000 deaths on April 5, 20,000 deaths on April 13 and 30,000 deaths on April 21.

All these figures are based on death registrations.

– Deaths per day in both hospitals and care homes are continuing to fall

The number of deaths involving Covid-19 taking place each day in both hospitals and care homes in England and Wales has remained below 100.

On June 12, the latest date for which data is available, there were 36 Covid-19 deaths in care homes and 53 in hospitals.

These numbers could be revised as further data on death registrations is processed.

The figures also confirm there was a peak in deaths in care homes in England and Wales on April 17 (433 deaths), nine days after there was a peak in hospitals on April 8 (1,001 deaths).