England and Wales announce 414 more coronavirus deaths – taking Britain’s total fatality count to 27,594
England and Wales have announced 414 more coronavirus deaths, taking Britain’s official fatality toll to 27,594.
NHS England confirmed another 370 COVID-19 victims in hospitals. But the number of deaths elsewhere in the community has yet to be revealed.
Patients were aged between 38 and 100 years old, and 25 of them had no known underlying health conditions.
Wales recorded 44 more fatalities in the last 24 hours, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are still to announce their figures.
The Department of Health has yet to post the official daily update, which takes into account all fatalities outside of hospital.
It does not provide a clear daily breakdown of how many occurred in different settings, such as hospitals.
Ministers finally caved in to mounting pressure to include COVID-19 fatalities in care homes in the daily updates this week, amid claims thousands of victims were being missed.
NHS England is the only body that provides an exact breakdown of the number of deaths in hospitals. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland include fatalities in care homes that tested positive in their daily figures, according to health chiefs
Death rates from all causes are higher in poorer areas, the ONS said, but the pandemic appears to be pushing the rates even higher
Boroughs in London accounted for all of the top ten worst hit local authorities, the report showed
The revised count added almost 4,000 more deaths onto the historical toll. But top statisticians warned the recount was still missing thousands of victims because it only includes lab-confirmed cases, despite ministers rationing almost all the testing kits to hospitals for the first month of the outbreak.
Experts today warned the crisis in care homes may not peak for months, saying the industry’s outbreak is a ‘long way behind’.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night confirmed the nation is past the peak of the outbreak, with the darkest days now behind us.
Britain’s official daily death toll has not yet been released and the final number is expected to be much higher because of the new scheme to include deaths in all settings – not just hospitals.