Cornavirus deaths in UK could be as high as 41, 000

Coronavirus death toll in the UK twice as high as official figures, as many as 41, 000 deaths in the UK according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.

The official UK figures only include those who have died in hospitals after testing positive for the virus.

Despite 823 hospital deaths in the UK announced on Tuesday, there were 18. 516 deaths registered during that period compared with the most recent five-year average of 10, 520 for the same week of the year.

Prof Spiegelhalter said that coronavirus was not given as the cause on many of the death certificates as many doctors would initially have been reluctant to designate the virus as the cause on the death certificate as it was a new disease and they could not have been certain.

There were as many as 38, 000 deaths to date linked to COVID-19 in England and Wales. In Scotland, the figure is 3, 000 and just below 500 in Northern Ireland.

Over 11, 000 more people than normal have died in residential care homes since the start of the pandemic outbreak.

There are 133, 495 confirmed cases , with  759 further dead on Wednesday totalling 18, 100.