England & Wales Deaths Fall; U.K. Virus Fatalities Pass 51,000

(Bloomberg) --

Deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales fell to the lowest in eight weeks, even as the U.K. became the first in Europe with more than 51,000 mortalities linked to the virus.

The fall in the number of fatalities has allowed the U.K. government to ease its lockdown as it tries to restart the economy. Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, who has face sustained criticism for his handling of the crisis, will brief the cabinet on Tuesday on his plans to ease restrictions on movement while trying to avoid a second wave of infections.

• There were 1,822 deaths in England and Wales linked to the virus in the week ending May 29, a decline of 30% on the previous week, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
• That brings total deaths there to 46,350, based on mortalities up until that date that were registered by June 6.
• Scotland and Northern Ireland had 3,911 and 754 deaths linked to the virus respectively, the latest figures from their statistics bodies show.
• There were 9,824 deaths overall in England and Wales registered in the week ending May 29, a decline of 20% on the previous week.
• Covid-19 was responsible for 28% of all deaths in care homes

There’s concern that much of the harm wrought by the disease has gone unrecorded. There have been 58,033 more deaths recorded in England and Wales than the five-year average since March 13. An analysis published by the ONS last week pointed to undiagnosed Covid-19 as a probable cause.

Reporting of deaths varies from country to country, with some only counting those confirmed by a diagnostic test.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.