London: The United Kingdom hit Tuesday another grim COVID-19 milestone as the country’s death toll crossed 100,000 since the peak of the pandemic last year. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) assessment of death certificate data reveals that there have been nearly 104,000 deaths since last year. The United Kingdom government’s daily death toll figures rely on positive coronavirus tests in the past 28 days and are therefore slightly lower, at 98,531.
The ONS figures show that a total of 7,245 registered deaths in England and Wales mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate in the week ending January 15, which is up from 6,057 deaths the week before and is the highest weekly number since April 24, 2020.
“It is a tragedy that we have now seen more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. This is a dreadful milestone to have reached, and behind each death will be a story of sorrow and grief,” said Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, a membership organisation for the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
“We won’t know the true impact of COVID-19 for a long time to come because of its long-term effects – but, as well as the high death rate, it’s particularly concerning that this virus has widened health inequalities and affected Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities disproportionately,” added Hopson. He urged continued ‘vigilance’ among all communities and strictly following the rules of social distancing.
“The vaccine offers hope for the future. This is a key phase in the fight to end COVID-19 but we must stay the course until the end is truly in sight,” asserted Hopson.
The latest figures come as the UK government is considering further measures in its fight against a high rate of infections, including the possibility of imposing compulsory 10-day hospital quarantine for travellers entering Britain from regions believed to be at a high risk of spreading new variants of coronavirus.