THE true UK coronavirus death toll has today neared 50,000 – 10,000 higher than the official tally.
Grim data from the Office for National Statistics indicate that by May 22,
In England and Wales by May 22, 43,837 people had died after contracting the virus.
By that date, Scotland’s death toll stood at 2,245, Northern Ireland’s at 504 and 1,254 people had died in Wales.
And since then the Department of Health and Social Care announced 2,652 deaths across the UK – bringing the total confirmed deaths to 50,492.
The government’s figure includes only deaths of people who had tested positive for the coronavirus. Whereas the ONS includes all mortalities in which Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate, so it includes suspected cases.
The ONS figures do reveal, however, that the number of deaths was slowing toward the end of last month.
In the seven days to May 22, coronavirus was linked to 2,589 deaths in England and Wales – the lowest in seven weeks and down from 3,810 the week before.
By May 22, 286,759 had died in England and Wales – 51,466 more than the five-year average.
Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not included in the ONS data.
The figures are different because the ONS data includes all cases where Covid-19 is listed on death certificates.
The overall number of what are called ‘excess deaths’ during the period of the pandemic stands at 62,000.
