UK Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 40,261

By Staff, Agencies

More than 40,000 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus across the United Kingdom, according to numbers released by health department.

It said the death toll had reached 40,261 by 5pm on Thursday, up by 357 from 39,904 the day before.

In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, 207,231 tests were carried out or dispatched with 1,650 positive results.

Overall, a total of 5,214,277 tests have been carried out and 283,311 cases have been confirmed positive.

However, the true scale of deaths from Covid-19 is likely to be over 50,000, according to government data published earlier this week.

The figure was reached by adding up the number of times where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate from the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

It also took into account the latest figures from NHS England, Public Health Wales and the Northern Ireland Department of Health.