Coronavirus: 12-year-old among latest confirmed deaths as England’s hospital tally almost outstrips Spain’s total fatalities
Updated NHS England data puts nation’s hospital death toll just 83 behind figure for entirety of Spain
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Your support makes all the difference.A 12-year-old child is among the latest to have been confirmed to have died of the Covid-19 coronavirus in hospital in the UK, according to data from NHS England.
The healthcare body confirmed 179 new fatalities as a result of the virus — with the eldest victim aged 97 and the youngest recorded in the tally just 12 years old.
The deaths, which include previously uncounted fatalities related to the virus in hospitals and span a time period from 24 March to 2 June, bring the total toll reported by NHS England to 27,044.
The tally is on the cusp of overtaking the number of confirmed deaths related to the virus recorded for the entirety of Spain, which has announces 27,127 fatalities.
While the authority releases updated death counts daily, the time it takes for some to be confirmed as Covid-19 related, for post-mortem examinations to be processed, and for data from the tests to be validated can sometimes mean it is days or weeks before a case is added to the total.
So far the deadliest day on record for hospitals in England — the UK region most heavily impacted by the virus — stands as 8 April, with a current total of 897.
It comes as a combination of all available data puts the UK death toll above 50,000 — the second highest recorded figure worldwide.
Figures published by the National Records of Scotland on Wednesday showed 3,911 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to 31 May, while on Tuesday, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 44,401 such deaths had occurred in England and Wales up to 22 May.
ONS data relies on a mention of Covid-19 on death certificates, and therefore does not necessarily mean all of those counted had been confirmed to have contracted the virus
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