The UK’s Covid-19 death toll has surpassed 50,000, government figures have revealed, as the nation struggles to deal with a deadly second wave.
The news served as a sobering reminder of the severity of the crisis after hopes were raised on Monday that an end may be in sight with announcement that a vaccine had been shown to be effective.
The alarming milestone was passed on Wednesday as Whitehall said a further 595 people had died within 28 days of testing positive, bringing the total by this measure to 50,365.
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles separate figures which suggest the death toll from Covid-19 is substantially higher – closer to 65,000.
“This is a point that should never have been reached,” said Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA). “Today’s figure is a terrible indictment of poor preparation, poor organisation by the government, insufficient infection control measures, coupled with late and often confusing messaging for the public.”
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said: “It is a grim milestone and we’re the first in Europe to hit it. Behind these numbers is a devastated family, one for every death, and they have to be uppermost in our mind.”
He accused the government of being “slow at phase one” and of failing to learn lessons thereafter. “We owe it to all of the families who are grieving to get on top of the virus and head towards a vaccine and that’s what the government must absolutely focus on now.”
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Boris Johnson reacted to the news during a visit to a Tesco distribution centre in south-east London, telling reporters: “Every death is a tragedy. We mourn everybody who is gone.”
Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, said: “Sadly the upward trend is likely to continue and it will be several weeks before any impact of the current measures – and the sacrifices we are all making – is seen and is reflected in the data. By limiting contact with others, you are helping to stop the spread of the virus. This will lead to fewer infections and help to save lives. Together we can bring the virus under control.”
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Alongside the news of progress towards the rollout of a vaccine, Johnson also lauded last week’s launch of a mass-testing programme in Liverpool, insisting the country had the tools to finally end the pandemic. “We have two boxing gloves to pummel the disease in the weeks and month that follow but I have got to stress that we are not out of the woods yet. It does require everybody to follow the guidance,” he said.
But the BMA heavily criticised his handling of the pandemic, saying the nation’s health service had “started on the back foot, with years of underfunding seriously affecting its ability to keep it running effectively”.
Both Johnson and Starmer encouraged people to get vaccinated as soon as it was possible. And Joe Anderson, Liverpool’s mayor, said more than 44,000 people have taken part in the city’s testing pilot.
The government said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 22,950 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. That brought the total number of cases in the UK to 1,256,725.
This daily death total is the worst since early May and is substantially greater than Tuesday’s 532, which was the previous highest total during the second wave.
The UK’s headline death toll of 50,365 only counts people who have died within 28 days of testing positive. The ONS, however, compiles separate figures based on mentions of Covid-19 on death certificates, which is considered by experts to be a more reliable estimate. The Northern Irish and Scottish agencies use the same methodology.
The death toll as counted by the three statistical agencies covering the four UK nations currently stands at 63,317 deaths. But the government’s dashboard shows that a further 2,511 people have died since the latest statistical releases, bringing the total number of Covid-related deaths to 65,828.
The government changed its own methodology midway through the pandemic after it claimed its figures could be overstating the true death toll, which was revised down by 5,000.
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The UK is the first country in Europe to suffer 50,000 deaths. As of Wednesday morning, Italy – the second-worst hit country in Europe – was on 42,330 deaths, with France having reported 40,987 deaths, according to international data from Johns Hopkins University.
More than 1,000 deaths have been recorded in England in one week, according to the latest ONS figures.
For the week ending 30 October, there were 1,258 deaths involving Covid-19. The number of deaths involving coronavirus has increased in all of the English regions, with the north-west having the largest number, at 445 deaths.
The number of deaths occurring in the week ending 30 October in the north-west of England was 31.4% higher this week compared with the five-year average for the region. London was the only English region to have fewer overall deaths than the five-year average.
Scottish figures released on Wednesday saw its death toll increase to 4,856 deaths reaching a six-week high of 206 in the week to 8 November.
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