UK announces 870 more coronavirus deaths taking the death toll to 13,738 – amid claims Britain’s fatalities peaked a WEEK ago on April 8
- A total 740 more deaths in NHS’s England hospitals have been announced
- A preliminary 130 have been announced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Individual day data reveals that April 8 has been the deadliest day so far with 771
- The daily death tolls do not represent fatalities on the day of announcement
- Medical officer Chris Whitty said he expects a rise after bank holiday weekend
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
The UK has announced 870 more deaths from the coronavirus today, taking the total number of victims to 13,738.
NHS England confirmed 740 people have died in its hospitals, aged between 28 and 103, 40 of whom had no other health conditions before catching the virus.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have announced a combined 130 more deaths from the coronavirus today, taking the UK total to 12,998.
The figures come as NHS England data revealing the days on which people actually died suggests that the deadliest day in Britain could have been a week ago on April 8.
Hospitals recorded 771 people dying on that day, more than any other day. Death totals announced each day, which have regularly been higher than that, do not actually represent how many people have succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours.
A Department of Health all-UK round-up will make clear how the number of new infections has changed and give some insight into the progression of the epidemic.
The death toll is the highest in five days, since Saturday last week, but the rise was not unexpected.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said in yesterday’s Government briefing that he expected a spike today as reports filter through from the long bank holiday weekend.
A greater number of victims does not mean more people are dying every day – one of the deaths in today’s stats happened on March 9 and took five weeks to be announced. Just 212 of England’s 740 happened over Easter weekend.
London was the region that recorded the most fatalities today, with 153 more victims, followed by the North East & Yorkshire, which declared 150.
In the Midlands there were 127 more to add to the tally, while 106 were declared in the North West of England.
Hospitals in the East of England recorded 91, while 84 were announced in the South East and 29 in the South West.
An NHS trust in Birmingham has become the first to record 500 deaths from the coronavirus, today’s data reveals.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust – which runs four hospitals in the city – confirmed 21 more fatalities in England’s official tally.
It means the hospital trust has now recorded 505 COVID-19 fatalities, a huge amount more than the next worst-hit NHS organisation.
A considerably lower 350 infected patients have died at the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, according to a count by health chiefs.
There are now at least 46 hospital trusts where more than 100 people have died, showing the effects of COVID-19 have spread far and wide.
Figures also show Birmingham is the hardest-hit area of the UK, with more confirmed cases of the life-threatening infection than anywhere else.
Data collated by the Department of Health shows the city – home to more than a million people – has recorded 1,931 cases.
Hampshire and Kent are the next worst-hit local authorities in England, with both having confirmed 1,802 cases each, as of yesterday.