This article presents official statistics gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The official daily report from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) counts those who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus. It "could be the major cause, a contributory factor or simply present when they are dying of something else". From 29 April 2020, the official figures include all coronavirus-positive deaths in the UK, wherever they happened. Before then, the official daily toll included only hospital deaths in England, but included all coronavirus-positive deaths in the rest of the UK wherever they happened, if known to public health agencies. There may be a delay between a death and it entering official statistics so families can be informed; this delay is usually a few days, but can be longer. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) issues a weekly report covering the four countries, which counts all deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate; not necessarily as the main cause of death. As of 21 September 2021, the total of registered deaths mentioning COVID-19 up till 10 September was 160,374, comprising 146,380 deaths for England, 8,129 for Wales, 10,688 for Scotland and 3,306 for Northern Ireland. In addition 184 non-UK residents died in England and Wales. This incorporates data from the National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. This figure is higher because it also counts deaths where no test was done. The ONS has analysed death certificates for England and Wales to the end of 2020 and shown that 91% of deaths which mention COVID-19 state this as the main cause of death (compared with 18% for flu and pneumonia). The end of free mass testing in April 2022 greatly reduced the number of tests taken and may affect the number of cases, although ONS statistics have continued being collected.
Details As of 5 June 2020 the death rate across the UK from COVID-19 was 592 per million population. The death rate varied greatly by age and healthiness. More than 90% of deaths were among the most vulnerable: those with underlying illnesses and the over-60s. COVID-19 deaths are "remarkably uncommon" among the least vulnerable: those under 65 and with no underlying illnesses. There was also large regional variation in the pandemic's severity. The outbreak in London had the highest number and highest rate of infections. England was the UK country with the highest recorded death rate per capita, followed by Wales and then Scotland, while Northern Ireland has the lowest per capita. On 22 April 2020, the Financial Times estimated that 41,000 may have died by that date, by extrapolating the ONS data and counting all deaths above the average for the time of year. The World Health Organisation cautioned on 23 April that up to half of coronavirus deaths in Europe were among care home residents. The Chief Medical Officer for England warned that even the ONS figures on coronavirus deaths in care homes are likely to be "an underestimate" and said he is "sure we will see a high mortality rate sadly in care homes, because this is a very, very vulnerable group". On 28 April, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the number of coronavirus-linked deaths in care homes would be announced as part of the daily report, instead of weekly. By 7 May 2020, the epidemic was concentrated in hospitals and care homes, with the infection rate being higher in care homes than in the community. By 28 May, the Financial Times estimate of 'excess deaths', the increase over the figure expected for the time of year, had increased to 59,537 since 20 March. The Guardian wrote in May 2020 that across the UK around 8,000 more people had died in their homes since the start of the pandemic, when compared to normal times. Of that total around 80% of the people according to their death certificates, died from non COVID-19 illnesses. The statistics additionally showed a drop in non COVID-19 deaths in hospitals, leading many to think that people who normally would have been admitted were avoiding hospitals. NHS England said that between 10 and 20% of people who were admitted to hospital for other reasons contracted coronavirus during their stay. The number of cases in the table represent laboratory confirmed cases only. The UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance, says it is likely that other cases are not included in these figures. In the week ending 19 June 2020, registered deaths fell below the average for the previous five years for the first time since mid-March. The total number of excess deaths in the UK since the start of the outbreak is just over 65,000. On 12 August 2020, the UK death toll was reduced by more than 5,000, after a review of how deaths are counted in England. In the latter half of August, testing increased from 2.3 to 2.6 tests per thousand population per day. 2,460 new cases in the UK were reported on Tuesday 8 September 2020. This number was approximately double what it had been a fortnight previously and the daily case number further doubled to 4,926 a fortnight later, on 22 September 2020. On 18 September, the COVID Symptom Study estimated the R 0 {\displaystyle R_{0}} value to be above 1 in each of England, Scotland and Wales, with a value of 1.4 for England meaning that cases were doubling every seven days.
Total cases and deaths
Long Covid Roughly 1.3 million UK people have "long Covid", symptoms lasting over four weeks following initial infection, according to an Office for National Statistics survey. The ONS survey, during four weeks in November and December 2021, claims, of those with long Covid:
"51% have fatigue 37% have loss of smell 36% have shortness of breath 28% have difficulty concentrating" As with previous analyses, roughly 20% said "their symptoms meant their ability to do day-to-day activities had been limited a lot." And patients most likely to develop long Covid are:
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