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UK Records Lowest Number Of Coronavirus Deaths Since Lockdown Measures Began

UK Records Lowest Number Of Coronavirus Deaths Since Lockdown Measures Began

Despite that, some statisticians believe the actual death toll to be much higher

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

The UK has recorded the lowest number of deaths as a result of Covid-19 since the lockdown commenced on 24 March.

Despite that, the death toll rose by 160 to 34,796.

There have been 246,406 cases of coronavirus in the UK since the pandemic began, of which 2,684 new cases were reported today.

The latest figures for the UK were announced at today's coronavirus daily governmental briefing, given today by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

This news comes on the day that many people in the UK have returned to work after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the lockdown measures would be eased over stages in the next couple of months.

Figures from NHS England showed that 122 more people lost their lives to the virus in England, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also confirming earlier today that two more people have died in Scotland, bringing their total to 2,105.

Four people died in Wales, and six people have died in Northern Ireland.

Even though the figures coming out are encouraging, the number of deaths and cases is typically lower over the weekend, and NHS England also confirmed that the Covid-19 patient notification system stopped working on 16 May briefly.

That error could potentially have had an impact on today's figure, and a spokesperson said that the total revealed in today's coronavirus daily briefing is 'lower than would be expected'.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
PA

Yesterday also saw the lowest death toll rise since lockdown began, with 170 deaths reported across the United Kingdom.

However, some statisticians believe that the actual death toll is significantly higher than is reported, and could be more than 41,500.

This alternative statistic is tallied by the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland. and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. It refers to all deaths in which Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate this year up until the start of May, and this includes suspected cases of the virus.

Earlier today, Boris Johnson's spokesperson confirmed that 5,889 care homes in England have reported a suspected coronavirus outbreak as of yesterday.

That figure accounts for 38 percent of all care homes in the country.

It has also been confirmed that loss of smell and taste have been added to the list of official symptoms of coronavirus.

The government said earlier today that those who experience any of those symptoms should isolate themselves for seven days.

Jonathan Van Tam.
PA

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van Tam said in a briefing: "The basic case definition for some time has been new continuous cough or fever - that will change to new continuous cough or fever or anosmia.

"The way we are describing anosmia is loss of - or a change - in your normal sense of smell. But we do understand that smell and taste are very closely linked in a neurological sense, and patients who experience a loss of sense of smell can also experience a loss of sense of taste."

He added: "It has been important to continue to look at that and be sure that we consider it and introduce it [as a symptom] at the right time when we think it's going to make a difference moving forwards to how we pick up cases.

"Let's be clear on this: this has been quite a difficult piece of science, because there's a distinction between [how] anosmia can occur with Covid-19 versus whether it occurs early to be a useful help in detecting more cases and also, of course, how common it is - and the estimates of how common it is have been very variable."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, UK News