More than 64,000 excess deaths in the UK since coronavirus outbreak began

There have been more than 64,000 excess deaths in the UK since the coronavirus outbreak began, according to the latest figures.

Today’s data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there were 58,693 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and June 5 2020.

Data published last week by the National Records of Scotland found there were 4,769 excess deaths in Scotland between March 23 and June 7.

The Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency put the figure for Northern Ireland at 940 excess deaths between March 21 and June 5.

Together, this means the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period now stands at 64,402.

UK excess deaths during coronavirus outbreak (PA Graphics)

Covid-19 has been responsible for 80 per cent of the excess deaths registered in England and Wales according to the ONS.

Some 46,996 of the 58,693 excess deaths in England and Wales were deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate, which includes suspected and confirmed cases.

Recent research published by the ONS into the number of non-Covid-19 excess deaths suggested undiagnosed Covid-19 could help explain some of the cases, but there is not enough evidence at present to confirm this.

The overall number of excess deaths registered per week has fallen from a peak of 11,854 in the week ending April 17 to 732 in the week ending June 5.