NHS confirms nine more coronavirus deaths in Britain’s hospitals after government stopped announcing daily total of UK victims due to accuracy concerns
- NHS England announced that eight people aged between 61 and 91, died today
- 1 person died from the virus in Wales while Scotland reported no new deaths
- The figures mark the lowest death toll since Covid-19 lockdown began in March
- Government decided ‘pause’ releasing overall figures amid accuracy concerns
A further nine people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in Britain today, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths during the pandemic to 45,282.
NHS England announced that eight people aged between 61 and 91, all with known underlying conditions, died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.
Just one person died from the virus in Wales while Scotland reported no new deaths today. Northern Ireland no longer release updated figures on weekends.
The figures mark the lowest death toll since lockdown began in March and is a drop from last Sunday’s figure of 21.
But the drop may be down to the The Department for Health’s decision on Friday to ‘pause’ releasing figures across all settings – which covers deaths in care homes, hospitals and the wider community – amid accuracy concerns.
Matt Hancock has ordered a review into claims by academics that the number of coronavirus deaths recorded in the UK during the pandemic had been exaggerated
Scotland reported 23 new coronavirus cases, while Wales confirmed 31.
On Friday, Matt Hancock ordered a review into claims by academics that the number of coronavirus deaths recorded in the UK during the pandemic had been exaggerated.
Oxford University experts have claimed the Government’s official count of COVID-19 deaths has been inflated and fewer than 40 people per day are now dying.
They say that the way officials count the death of anyone who has previously tested positive for coronavirus – even if it is months ago – gives a misleading picture.
The low figures come the same day after a record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases was reported world-wide – as almost 260,000 people tested positive for the virus in 24 hours.
The most significant increases were noted in the US, Brazil, India and South Africa, as the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases surpassed 14 million.
On Saturday, the World Health Organisation reported 71,484 new cases in the US, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.
It comes as the global death toll reached 601,549, with the largest daily increase since May 10 reported on Saturday when 7,360 patients died.
However, experts believe true numbers around the world are much higher due to testing shortages and data collection issues in some nations.
The previous World Health Organisation record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday.