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The UK death toll of Covid-19 has exceeded 40,000, according to official figures, with nearly 10,000 nursing home residents now dying of coronavirus.
The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that as of May 9, there were 35,044 Covid-19-related deaths recorded in England and Wales. Adding the latest figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland and more government-announced daily updated deaths that occurred in NHS settings, the official death toll in the UK is now 40,011.
The figures consolidate the United Kingdom as the most affected country in Europe. Italy has registered 30,739 deaths, Spain 26,744 and France 26,604, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Germany has recorded 7,661 deaths.
Death tolls published by JHU do not always include deaths in residences and private residences.
However, death rates are declining, and for the first time since the pandemic occurred, all regions of England and Wales recorded a small number of deaths in the general population, ONS figures showed.
Also for the first time, London, which was the center of the worst initial outbreaks, did not have the highest count, which was recorded in the southeast. The capital recorded the sharpest drop in Covid-19 deaths in any region of England and Wales.
For the second week in a row the number of deaths in English care homes was reduced from confirmed or suspected Covid-19. Total deaths rose to 8,314, but weekly deaths fell to 1,503, down from 2,379 in the week ending April 24, when the pandemic appears to have reached its most devastating peak in the care sector. Another 350 people died in care homes in Wales and 1,201 in Scottish care homes, accounting for 43% of all Covid-19 deaths in Scotland, bringing the total number of deaths in UK care homes by the virus at 10,949. Nursing home deaths in those countries will be updated later this week.
The trend in the numbers appears to confirm reports Monday of two of the UK’s largest nursing home operators, HC-One and MHA, which together operate 550 care centers. They told the Guardian that they had recorded declining death rates at Covid-19, with peaks on April 19 and 22.
In figures supporting the view that England and Wales have passed the peak of coronavirus infections, the ONS said that in the week ending May 1, 17,953 people died from all causes, a decrease in overall morbidity from second week in a row, but still 8,012 more than the five-year average for that week.
That total was 4,398 less than the record level of 22,351 in the week ending April 17.
The reasons behind the additional 8,000 deaths remain unclear, and it is speculated that they may have been caused by delays in hospital admissions for other life-threatening conditions and other factors such as financial hardship and mental health problems.
