UK’s Covid death toll hits 100,000: ONS figures show 103,704 people had died with the virus by January 15 as care home fatalities almost TRIPLED in a fortnight to 1,705
- Data from Office for National Statistics today revealed as of January 15 there had been 103,704 Covid deaths
- Figure is slightly lower than Department of Health’s tally of 98,531 because the ONS looks at death certificates
- Only four countries, US (421,129), Brazil (217,664), India (153,587) and Mexico (150,273), suffered more deaths
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The UK’s coronavirus death toll has passed the grim milestone of 100,000, official figures show.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed that, as of January 15, there had been 103,704 Covid fatalities since the pandemic began.
The figure is slightly lower than the Department of Health’s tally of 98,531 because the ONS includes all fatalities with Covid on the death certificates, whereas the Government’s figure relies on positive tests.
It comes after Britain suffered a devastating winter wave of the virus caused by the super-infectious mutant variant first found in Kent.
The new strain sparked a tsunami of infections and hospital admissions that left the UK with the highest Covid death rate in the world.
Only four countries, the US (421,129), Brazil (217,664), India (153,587) and Mexico (150,273), which have far larger populations, have suffered higher death tolls.
Experts say one of the driving factors behind the UK’s huge toll has been the Government’s failure to protect frail and elderly people in care homes – who account for a quarter of all deaths.
Separate damning ONS figures show fatalities among care home residents have almost tripled in the last fortnight, as the virus makes a deadly resurgence in the sector.
The number-crunching body said there were 1,705 deaths reported to the Care Quality Commission in the seven days to January 2, up from 661 a fortnight ago.
