UK’s wider Covid-19 death toll passed 150,000 in mid-March
The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,469 on January 19.
More than 150,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate, new figures show.
The grim milestone was passed on March 18, but has only now been confirmed due to the time it takes for deaths to be registered.
The figures, which have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that 150,116 deaths involving coronavirus have occurred in the UK since the pandemic began.
The total includes all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.
The ONS figures provide the fullest picture so far of how the Covid-19 pandemic has unfolded in the UK.
They are a more comprehensive measure of deaths than the numbers published daily by the Government, which count only those who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, and which currently stand at a total of 126,615.
Of the 150,116 deaths involving coronavirus reported by the ONS, 55,407 (37%) have taken place since the start of 2021.
The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,469 on January 19.
During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on April 8 2020.
The figures show how the number of deaths has slowed dramatically in recent weeks, however.
The cumulative total passed 100,000 on January 7 and reached 125,000 just 19 days later on January 26.
It then took a further 51 days to reach 150,000.
The daily death toll dropped below 400 on February 22, below 300 on February 26 and below 200 on March 7.
The ONS figures run up to March 19, and are likely to be revised upwards as more deaths are registered.
Analysis of the ONS data by the PA news agency shows that:
– Using the end of August 2020 as a dividing line between the first and second waves, 57,832 deaths took place in the first wave, while 92,284 deaths have so far taken place in the second wave.
– More than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths occurred each day for 24 days in a row in January. During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll topped 1,000 for 23 consecutive days in April.
– 33,684 deaths involving Covid-19 took place in the four weeks to February 1 2021: the highest number of deaths to occur in a four-week period since the start of the pandemic.
– England, Wales and Northern Ireland each recorded their highest daily death tolls during the second wave of the pandemic (on January 19, 11 and 17 respectively), while Scotland’s “deadliest day” was during the first wave (April 9).
