More people have now died during the second wave of coronavirus in the UK than the first, the latest government figures reveal.
From the beginning of the pandemic up to September 1, when three people died of Covid – the lowest number since the pandemic began – 41,565 people died within 28 days of a positive test.
Since then, at least 41,609 more people have died, Wednesday’s figures show.
Between September 2 and January 10, at least a further 41,386 people died.
January 10 is the most recent day for which daily figures covering the entire UK are available – but in the two days since then, NHS England has separately reported 103 deaths on January 11, while Northern Ireland reported 25 on January 11 and 12, Wales reported 15 on January 11, and Scotland has reported 80 more.
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The daily updates from individual nations in the U.K. are likely to be significant underestimates as most deaths take more than 24 hours to be registered. Here’s a primer on how to understand the data.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 99,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
It comes as the NHS medical director for London warned on Tuesday that the capital’s hospitals faced an increasingly dire situation.
Dr Vin Diwakar said London now had almost 8,000 Covid-19 inpatients, compared to 4,000 on December 25.
Scientists advising the government have said that, even with a vaccine, the mortality rate may not begin to decline until late February.
