UK coronavirus death toll rises by 135 to 42,288

18 June 2020, 16:23

The Government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK. Picture: PA

By Matt Drake

The official death toll for coronavirus has risen by 135 to 42,288 according to the latest government figures.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said today that a total of 42,288 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Wednesday, up by 135 from 42,153 the day before.

However, the Government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000.

The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Thursday, 136,516 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,218 positive results.

Overall, a total of 7,7,259,555 tests have been carried out and 300,469 cases have been confirmed positive.

The figure for the number of people tested has been "temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting" across all methods of testing.

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Public Health Wales said a further five people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths to 1,471, while the total number of cases there increased by 48 to 14,970.

A further 62 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 28,175, NHS England said.

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Separate modelling published by the ONS and carried out by the universities of Oxford and Manchester shows "a clear downward trend" in the estimated percentage of people in England testing positive for Covid-19 since the infection study began on April 26.

The ONS said the decline suggested by this model "appears to have slowed in recent weeks", with the proportion of the population testing positive dropping from an estimated 0.33% on April 26 to 0.10% by May 26, before levelling off around 0.07% in the days up to June 13.

Results for the most recent period are provisional, the ONS added, as not all swab test results have been received, and this may result in further revisions to the figures.