UK coronavirus deaths rise by 204 to 40,465

Government data suggests number of fatalities could be significantly higher than official death toll 

Rory Sullivan
Saturday 06 June 2020 15:22 BST
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Health secretary Matt Hancock gives the government's daily briefing on 5 June, 2020
Health secretary Matt Hancock gives the government's daily briefing on 5 June, 2020

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has risen by 204, the Department of Health has confirmed.

It said the total number of deaths from Covid-19 was 40,465 as of 5pm on 5 June, up from 40,261 the day before.

In the 24-hour period up to 9am on 6 June, 218,187 tests were carried out or dispatched.

In total, there have been more than 5,438,000 tests and almost 285,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.

Earlier this week, government data suggested that the true death toll in the UK is much higher than the Department of Health's figure and could be above 50,000.

This number was calculated by adding up the amount of times coronavirus was listed on death certificates from the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

The estimation was also based on up-to-date figures from NHS England, Public Health Wales and the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

There are now growing fears over a second wave of the virus, after the R rate in the north-west was revealed to be over 1 on Friday.

In the government's press briefing on Friday afternoon, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, admitted that the government faced a "challenge" in the northwest and southwest regions.

On Saturday, a former Scottish chief scientific adviser called for an inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic to be delivered within months - in time for a possible second wave of the virus.

Professor Dame Anne Glover, who performed the role from 2006 to 2011, said: "Given that second wave is likely to come at a time that is likely to coincide with seasonal influenza, and that would give us serious problems, we really need to understand what the failings have been in our apparent inability to be able to deal with this pandemic appropriately."

She stressed that the UK could suffer "very many more needless deaths" during the winter if a "rapid and transparent" inquiry did not go ahead, looking at issues such as track and trace systems and personal protective equipment.

"Nobody's perfect and it is OK to make a mistake but it would be inexcusable to make the same mistake twice," she added.

Additional reporting from PA

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