UK's official coronavirus death toll rises by 627 to 32,692

12 May 2020, 17:54

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

The UK's official coronavirus death toll has risen by 627 to 32,692 according to Department of Health figures, although it is feared the real number is higher.

A further 3,403 people tested positive for Covid-19 up to 9am on Tuesday morning, bringing the total confirmed infections in the UK up to 226,463.

There were 85,293 tests carried out but the Department of Health figures show 60,410 people were tested. Both numbers are below the government's target of 100,000 tests each day.

However, there have now been more than two million tests carried out on almost 1.5 million people.

Tuesday's death figures are more than triple the amount reported on Monday (210), however this is due to a lag in recording over the weekend.

On Tuesday, separate data from the Office for National Statistics confirmed 35,044 deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales up to 1 May (and had been registered up to 9 May).

Meanwhile, the National Records of Scotland, published last week, showed 2,795 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to 3 May.

And the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, also published last week, showed 516 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Northern Ireland up to 6 May.

Together these figures mean that so far 38,355 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.

A further 1,678 hospital patients in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between 2 May and 10 May.

These four sets of data combined suggest the UK's total figure is already above 40,000.

Coronavirus press conference (12 May 2020)

Deaths in care homes made up over 40 per cent of fatalities across England and Wales in the week to 1 May.

However, fatality rates are falling and for the first time every region of England and Wales recorded a reduced death toll in the general population, the ONS figures showed.

Additionally, for two weeks in a row the death toll in English care homes from confirmed or suspected Covid-19 dropped.

Total deaths rose to 8,314, but weekly deaths fell to 1,503, down from 2,379 in the week ending 24 April, when it appears the pandemic reached its peak in the care sector.

It means that roughly a quarter of all the UK's victims have died in care homes.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen more than 4.1 million people infected worldwide along with over 286,000 deaths, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 81,000 people have died in the US, the worst affected country, with 30,739 in Italy – the second hardest hit in Europe.

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