U.K. virus death toll now third-highest
Change in process for care homes causes jump
LONDON — The U.K. has the third-highest coronavirus death toll in the world after the British government published new figures Wednesday that include deaths outside hospitals.
After factoring in deaths in all settings such as care homes, the number of people in Britain who have died after testing positive for the virus has hit 26,097, way ahead of the 21,678 announced on Tuesday. Until now, hospital deaths have been reported daily, while deaths in nursing homes and other settings were reported separately on a weekly basis.
Under the new measurement, the U.K. has leapfrogged Spain and France in Europe, with only Italy ahead. The U.S. has the world’s highest reported death toll.
The revision prompted renewed criticism of the government’s approach throughout the crisis. The new leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said the scale of deaths in the U.K. is “truly dreadful” and has accused the Conservative government of being too slow in putting the country into lockdown, in testing people for the virus and in getting critical protective gear for medical workers.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab sought to ease any worries, saying the additional deaths were a cumulative total going back to March 2.
“They don’t represent a sudden surge in the number of deaths,” he said at the government’s daily press briefing.
In spite of that, it is becoming increasingly clear that the U.K. could end up with the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world, partly because Italy is considered to be around a couple of weeks ahead in the epidemic.
There is also an acknowledgement that the new figures underestimate the total death toll in care homes as they only include those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Also, the death certificates of those dying in care homes can take a couple of weeks to be issued.
Raab said it was too soon for the government to make an assessment as to whether its five tests on easing the lockdown restrictions have been met. Among those tests are a “sustained and consistent fall” in daily coronavirus-related deaths, along with reliable data showing that the rate of inflection has moderated to manageable levels.
“We are coming through the peak, but we are not there yet, which is why we are keeping our focus on the social distancing measures,” he said.
In other developments:
China announced that its previously postponed national legislature session will start on May 22. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 3,000 or so delegates would come to Beijing for what is the biggest political meeting of the year, or whether it would be held virtually through videoconference.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to stand in solidarity with the United States in its struggle against the coronavirus pandemic and as it recovers from the outbreak. In a letter sent to President Donald Trump, Erdogan also said he was following “with appreciation” the American leader’s efforts to control the outbreak. The letter was sent Tuesday along with a planeload of personal protective equipment that Turkey donated to the U.S. It was made public on Wednesday.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg is launching a campaign with a Danish foundation to help finance the U.N. childrens’ agency’s emergency program to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Sri Lanka will re-impose a 24hour countrywide curfew as part of the country’s stringent measures designed to contain the spread of COVID-19. According to the government’s decision, the curfew will be effective from Thursday at 8 p.m. until May 4.