Britain today announced just 56 Covid-19 deaths as separate data showed the number of coronavirus fatalities is now falling in every age group for the first time since the crisis began.
Department of Health bosses have yet to confirm the final daily toll, which is often higher than the preliminary count because it includes laboratory-confirmed deaths in all settings.
NHS England today declared 46 deaths in hospitals across the country. Wales recorded five victims in all settings, followed by four in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland.
It means the official number of Covid-19 victims now stands at 42,703 — but separate figures taking into account all suspected deaths shows the actual tally is at least 53,000.
Britain yesterday announced just 15 more Covid-19 deaths in the lowest daily toll since 10 days before lockdown was introduced as the outbreak that once terrorized the nation continues to fizzle out.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today also showed the number of people dying of Covid-19 is now falling in every age group for the first time since the start of Britain’s crisis.
Boris Johnson today dramatically unwound the coronavirus lockdown, declaring that pubs, haircuts and weddings can return and giving family and friends the green light to meet up indoors for the first time in months.
In other coronavirus developments in Britain today:
- Spain has already started closing its beaches because they’re getting too packed, before most Britons have even had a chance to get out there;
- Germany ordered 360,000 people back into lockdown after a coronavirus outbreak at a meat factory caused a worrying spike in the country’s R rate;
- World number one tennis star Novak Djokovic announced he tested positive for Covid-19, with the self-proclaimed anti-vaxxer becoming the sixth direct participant in his exhibition series to catch the virus.
Department of Health data released this afternoon showed that 139,659 tests were carried out yesterday, a figure that included antibody tests for frontline NHS and care workers.
But bosses again refused to say how many people were tested, meaning the exact number of Brits who have been swabbed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a mystery for a month — since May 22.
Another 958 cases were diagnosed, taking the official size of the outbreak to 305,289 infections. But the true size of the crisis is estimated to be in the millions.
The daily death data does not represent how many Covid-19 patients died within the last 24 hours — it is only how many fatalities have been reported and registered with the authorities.
The data does not always match updates provided by the home nations. For example, the Scottish government on Thursday announced two deaths – but the DH recorded nine north of the border.
Department of Health officials work off a different time cut-off, meaning daily updates from Scotland as well as Northern Ireland are always out of sync. Wales is not thought to be affected.
And the count announced by NHS England every afternoon — which only takes into account deaths in hospitals — does not match up with the DH figures because they work off a different recording system.
For instance, some deaths announced by NHS England bosses will have already been counted by the Department of Health, which records fatalities ‘as soon as they are available’.
NHS England today announced 20 victims in hospitals — all of whom were aged between 55 and 98. Wales posted one fatality in all settings and Scotland and Northern Ireland recorded none.
Data published today shows that the number of people dying with the coronavirus appears to have stopped rising among people of all ages.
This is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that it’s happened, the ONS said in its report.
The most recent statistics, for the week between June 6 and June 12, showed that 1,114 deaths were registered then, down from 1,588 the week before.
While the number of deaths being recorded stayed still for some younger age groups, among whom there were one or zero deaths, it fell in all groups over the age of 29, which accounted for all but one of the fatalities (99.9 per cent).
The biggest proportional fall was among 65 to 69-year-olds, where deaths fell by 46 per cent in a week.
Fatalities dropped by 40 per cent in 35 to 39-year-olds, by 36 per cent among 50 to 54-year-olds and 34 per cent in those aged 55 to 59.
The biggest reduction in number was in over-90s, who are the worst affected by the disease. There was a drop of 127 deaths week-on-week among them – from 404 to 277.
Today’s data also shows that the number of people dying each week has fallen to a 12-week low.
Looking at the actual dates on which people died – a different measure to when the deaths were registered – there were 865 fatalities in the week to June 12.
This was below 1,000 for the first time since March 20 – before lockdown – when 401 people died.
It was the lowest figure for 12 weeks and a 32 per cent drop from 1,276 the week before.
The ONS also shows that 48,866 people had been killed by the coronavirus by mid-June in England and Wales alone.
Combined with data from National Records Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, this puts the UK death toll at 53,738.
The number is 11,000 higher than the 42,647 recorded by the Department of Health because it includes everyone who has the virus mentioned on their death certificate, regardless of whether they have been tested.
The downside to the ONS number is that it has to be done over a longer period of time so it’s 10 days behind the present day.
Another measure of deaths caused by the pandemic, excess deaths, now sits at 65,173 across Britain.
This measures the number of deaths above average for the year so far, and may include people who didn’t actually catch Covid-19 but died because they could not – or would not – go to hospital, for example.
The number of excess deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending June 12 was 559, according the ONS.
That was the lowest number since the week ending March 20.
In the week ending June 12 the number of deaths in hospitals was below average, marking the second week in a row there had been no excess deaths in hospitals.
There were still excess deaths registered in both care homes and private homes during this week, although the number was down on the previous seven days.
The difficulty of measuring excess deaths is that it is not clear how many of them can be directly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
For some patients the epidemic – and the fact they have missed out on treatment – may have delayed their death if they would have died from an infection caught in hospital, such as MRSA or pneumonia.
Office for National Statistics data shows that the coronavirus was twice as deadly as any other disease in May.
Covid-19 killed 210.3 people per 100,000 in that month.
By comparison, dementia accounted for 111.4 per 100,000 deaths – but this was above average (103.3) and may have been affected by undiagnosed coronavirus in care homes.
Heart disease caused death at a rate of 71.5 per 100,000, down from its average 98.1.
And strokes (cerebrovascular disease) killed 43.9 people per 100,000 in May, down from the average 55.4.
Experts have suggested deaths from other causes may have reduced either because the same patients caught coronavirus and died with it, or because they put off going to hospital and their death was delayed.
Birmingham | 1,187 | Dartford | 108 |
County Durham | 680 | Slough | 107 |
Leeds | 673 | South Derbyshire | 107 |
Liverpool | 558 | Lewes | 107 |
Sheffield | 550 | Winchester | 107 |
Cheshire East | 498 | Chorley | 107 |
Croydon | 484 | Welwyn Hatfield | 107 |
Brent | 483 | Hartlepool | 106 |
Bradford | 472 | Colchester | 106 |
Barnet | 449 | Wychavon | 105 |
Wirral | 416 | Portsmouth | 104 |
Ealing | 402 | Tewkesbury | 104 |
Harrow | 392 | Elmbridge | 104 |
Manchester | 383 | Mole Valley | 104 |
Enfield | 382 | Neath Port Talbot | 103 |
Buckinghamshire | 381 | Dover | 102 |
Walsall | 371 | North Lincolnshire | 100 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 365 | Eastleigh | 98 |
Cardiff | 362 | East Hertfordshire | 98 |
Sandwell | 355 | Telford and Wrekin | 97 |
Wiltshire | 354 | High Peak | 97 |
Stockport | 343 | Fareham | 97 |
Sunderland | 334 | Warwick | 97 |
Wigan | 333 | North Hertfordshire | 96 |
Bromley | 332 | Broxtowe | 96 |
Wakefield | 331 | Sevenoaks | 95 |
Bolton | 311 | Vale of Glamorgan | 95 |
Redbridge | 310 | Peterborough | 94 |
Salford | 308 | East Northamptonshire | 94 |
Hillingdon | 308 | South Staffordshire | 94 |
Kirklees | 304 | Amber Valley | 92 |
Newham | 304 | Stroud | 92 |
Rotherham | 303 | Kettering | 91 |
Wolverhampton | 303 | Denbighshire | 91 |
Dudley | 299 | Powys | 91 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 293 | Bath and North East Somerset | 90 |
Derby | 292 | Hinckley and Bosworth | 90 |
Lewisham | 289 | Plymouth | 89 |
Rhondda Cynon Taf | 288 | Breckland | 89 |
Lambeth | 282 | Guildford | 89 |
Coventry | 281 | Blackburn with Darwen | 88 |
Sefton | 278 | Erewash | 88 |
Havering | 272 | Bridgend | 88 |
Leicester | 271 | Three Rivers | 87 |
Solihull | 270 | Surrey Heath | 87 |
Northumberland | 268 | Tandridge | 87 |
Haringey | 264 | Fylde | 86 |
Tameside | 260 | South Ribble | 86 |
Central Bedfordshire | 255 | Spelthorne | 86 |
Oldham | 248 | Darlington | 84 |
Northampton | 246 | Brentwood | 83 |
Southwark | 246 | Rochford | 83 |
Waltham Forest | 246 | Gravesham | 83 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 242 | Chesterfield | 82 |
Bristol, City of | 238 | East Hampshire | 82 |
Shropshire | 235 | Conwy | 82 |
Gateshead | 232 | Carmarthenshire | 82 |
Barnsley | 231 | Castle Point | 81 |
Bury | 228 | Cambridge | 80 |
Doncaster | 226 | Rushmoor | 80 |
Hounslow | 225 | Epsom and Ewell | 80 |
Trafford | 224 | Isle of Wight | 79 |
Warrington | 223 | Rushcliffe | 79 |
Greenwich | 223 | Chichester | 78 |
Hackney | 221 | Fenland | 77 |
Nottingham | 220 | Scarborough | 77 |
Bexley | 220 | Worthing | 77 |
East Suffolk | 214 | Barrow-in-Furness | 75 |
Wandsworth | 212 | Newark and Sherwood | 75 |
Rochdale | 209 | Cannock Chase | 75 |
Cornwall | 203 | North Warwickshire | 75 |
Luton | 202 | Crawley | 75 |
Middlesbrough | 201 | Derbyshire Dales | 74 |
Merton | 200 | Broxbourne | 74 |
Swansea | 200 | Mid Suffolk | 74 |
Kingston upon Hull, City of | 194 | Pendle | 73 |
Milton Keynes | 194 | Oxford | 73 |
Basildon | 193 | Monmouthshire | 73 |
St. Helens | 193 | Blaby | 72 |
Tower Hamlets | 186 | Rugby | 72 |
Medway | 184 | West Suffolk | 72 |
Westminster | 184 | Harlow | 71 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 182 | Woking | 71 |
Southend-on-Sea | 181 | Wrexham | 71 |
Stoke-on-Trent | 180 | Tonbridge and Malling | 70 |
Epping Forest | 180 | Broadland | 70 |
Sutton | 176 | Daventry | 70 |
Hertsmere | 175 | Tunbridge Wells | 68 |
Reigate and Banstead | 175 | Bracknell Forest | 67 |
Harrogate | 174 | Lancaster | 67 |
South Gloucestershire | 167 | Sedgemoor | 67 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 167 | Runnymede | 67 |
Swindon | 164 | Arun | 66 |
Reading | 164 | Gwynedd | 66 |
Stratford-on-Avon | 164 | Torfaen | 66 |
Southampton | 163 | Allerdale | 65 |
Barking and Dagenham | 163 | Eastbourne | 65 |
Tendring | 161 | Wellingborough | 65 |
York | 160 | Mansfield | 65 |
Dorset | 160 | Staffordshire Moorlands | 65 |
Mid Sussex | 160 | Merthyr Tydfil | 65 |
Newport | 160 | South Kesteven | 64 |
Camden | 159 | Craven | 64 |
South Tyneside | 157 | Bassetlaw | 64 |
Bedford | 152 | Hambleton | 63 |
Brighton and Hove | 150 | Blaenau Gwent | 63 |
South Lakeland | 149 | Uttlesford | 62 |
North Tyneside | 149 | North West Leicestershire | 62 |
East Staffordshire | 148 | Worcester | 61 |
Islington | 148 | Tamworth | 60 |
Wokingham | 147 | South Cambridgeshire | 59 |
Richmond upon Thames | 146 | Babergh | 59 |
Gloucester | 144 | Torbay | 58 |
Chelmsford | 143 | Cotswold | 58 |
Thanet | 140 | Burnley | 58 |
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | 140 | Copeland | 57 |
Ashfield | 140 | Hyndburn | 57 |
Knowsley | 140 | Harborough | 57 |
Stockton-on-Tees | 137 | Stevenage | 57 |
North East Derbyshire | 137 | Oadby and Wigston | 56 |
Waverley | 136 | South Norfolk | 56 |
Thurrock | 135 | Gosport | 55 |
North Somerset | 134 | South Somerset | 55 |
Nuneaton and Bedworth | 134 | Redditch | 55 |
Cheltenham | 132 | Bolsover | 54 |
Bromsgrove | 132 | Rossendale | 52 |
West Berkshire | 131 | South Holland | 52 |
Blackpool | 129 | South Northamptonshire | 52 |
Kingston upon Thames | 129 | North Norfolk | 51 |
Redcar and Cleveland | 128 | Rother | 50 |
Caerphilly | 128 | East Cambridgeshire | 49 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | 127 | Hart | 48 |
New Forest | 127 | East Lindsey | 48 |
Newcastle-under-Lyme | 127 | Corby | 48 |
Carlisle | 124 | East Devon | 47 |
Preston | 123 | Richmondshire | 47 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 123 | Malvern Hills | 47 |
Halton | 121 | Forest of Dean | 45 |
Ipswich | 121 | Great Yarmouth | 45 |
Herefordshire, County of | 120 | Somerset West and Taunton | 45 |
Vale of White Horse | 120 | North Kesteven | 43 |
St Albans | 120 | Selby | 43 |
Huntingdonshire | 119 | Pembrokeshire | 40 |
Ashford | 119 | Eden | 39 |
Flintshire | 119 | Exeter | 39 |
Dacorum | 118 | Adur | 39 |
Canterbury | 117 | North East Lincolnshire | 34 |
Watford | 116 | Boston | 34 |
Swale | 115 | Teignbridge | 33 |
Gedling | 115 | Maldon | 32 |
West Oxfordshire | 115 | Ryedale | 30 |
Braintree | 114 | Isle of Anglesey | 30 |
Basingstoke and Deane | 114 | Melton | 28 |
Charnwood | 114 | Mendip | 28 |
Cherwell | 114 | North Devon | 26 |
Horsham | 114 | Lincoln | 26 |
Wyre Forest | 114 | Ribble Valley | 23 |
Folkestone and Hythe | 113 | West Lindsey | 23 |
South Oxfordshire | 113 | Norwich | 23 |
Test Valley | 112 | Rutland | 22 |
Stafford | 112 | Torridge | 20 |
Maidstone | 111 | Mid Devon | 17 |
West Lancashire | 111 | West Devon | 15 |
Lichfield | 111 | South Hams | 12 |
Calderdale | 111 | Hastings | 9 |
Wyre | 109 | Ceredigion | 7 |
Wealden | 108 | City of London | 4 |
Havant | 108 | Isles of Scilly | 0 |