UK’s wider Covid-19 death toll passes 180,000

Deaths in the third wave remain lower than in the first and second wave.

More than 180,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, new figures show (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

More than 180,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, new figures show.

A total of 180,662 deaths involving coronavirus have now been registered in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This includes all instances where Covid-19 has been mentioned on someone’s death certificate, either as a main cause of death or a contributory factor.

The ONS figures provide the fullest picture so far of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the population.

The 180,662 includes all deaths that had occurred in the UK up to January 21 and which had been registered by January 29.

The figure is lower than the Government’s preferred death toll, which counts only people who have died within 28 days of testing positive, and which stood at 154,286 on January 21.

Because the Government’s narrower count is limited to people who died within 28 days of a positive test, it is likely to have missed a number of deaths linked to coronavirus – particularly during the first wave of the virus in spring 2020, when only a small amount of people were being tested for Covid-19, mostly in hospitals and care homes.

Around nine in 10 deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate since the start of the pandemic have coronavirus as the primary cause of death, with a minority listing the virus as a contributory factor.

It is just over two years since the UK’s first known death involving coronavirus.

Peter Attwood, 84, from Chatham in Kent died in hospital on January 30 2020 – though Covid-19 was not formally recorded on his death certificate until the end of August that year.

The cumulative number of deaths involving coronavirus passed 50,000 on May 22 2020, reached 100,000 on January 6 2021 and 150,000 on March 8 2021.

By contrast, the number of deaths based on the narrower count did not reach 50,000 until November 7 2020, passed 100,000 on January 22 2021 and only reached 150,000 on January 5 this year – around 10 months after the equivalent figure for the wider death count.

These figures are based on when deaths actually occurred, not when they were reported.

Analysis of the ONS data by the PA news agency shows that:

– The highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 to occur on a single day was 1,485, on January 19 2021.

– During the first wave of the virus, the daily toll peaked at 1,461 on April 8 2020.

– A total of 94,998 deaths involving Covid-19 took place in the UK in 2020, compared with 81,620 in 2021.

– There were 57,896 deaths in the first wave (up to August 31 2020), 96,041 in the second wave (September 1 2020 to May 22 2021) and 26,725 so far in the third wave (from May 23 2021). These calculations are based on the dates used by the ONS for categorising the first, second and third waves.

Separate figures published by the ONS on Tuesday showed that 1,484 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending January 21 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

This is up 7% on the previous seven days, and is the highest number since 1,501 deaths in the week to March 12 2021.

Around one in nine (11.6%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 21 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.