UK death rate is NORMAL for this time of the year as Covid epidemic shrinks, Hancock says

THE number of people dying in the UK is now normal for this time of the year, the Health Secretary has said.

Matt Hancock said that it’s the first time since before the country went into lockdown that the death rate was in line with the seasonal average.

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the UK’s death rate has returned to normal levels for the first time since the outbreak began[/caption]

A total of 42,288 people have died from Covid-19, including a 13-day-old baby who was today confirmed as the UK’s youngest victim.

Speaking at the Downing Street press briefing, he said: “Public Health England today published their weekly surveillance report, which shows that last week, for the first week since mid-March the number of people who died in this country in total – from coronavirus and anything else – was no higher than is normal at this time of year.

“So that demonstrates that the number of deaths is coming right down but the battle against this virus is not over.

He later added: “In a normal June week, in a normal year, it’s statistically equivalent.”

 

 

It comes as the number of people with Covid-19 in England continues to fall but the rate of decline is slowing, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

The average number of infections per day since the end of April has fallen from 4,500 last week to 3,800, according to the figures.

The weekly snapshot of the average number of infections suggests about one in 1,700 people were infected between May 31 and June 13.

The ONS said: “Modelling of the trend over time also shows evidence that the number of people in England testing positive has decreased since the study began on April 26, and suggests that the decline may have slowed in recent weeks.”

The ONS publishes data on how many people at any one time are infected with Covid-19 based on swab results from households across the country.

The figures look at community infections and do not include care homes or hospitals.

The ONS said: “Our latest estimates indicate that at any given time during the two weeks from May 31 to June 13, an average of 33,000 people in England had the coronavirus.

“This equates to 0.06% of the population in England or around one in 1,700 individuals.

“This estimate is based on swab tests collected from 24,413 participants, of which 10 individuals tested positive for Covid-19.”