Covid caused more UK deaths last year than any infectious disease since 1918

Coronavirus caused more deaths in the UK last year than any other infectious disease in more than a century, new figures show.

More than 140,000 people have now died with Covid-19 mentioned as the underlying cause or a contributory cause on their death certificates, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That includes 73,500 people in England and Wales registered in 2020, as well as nearly 4,400 further deaths which were attributed to other infectious and parasitic diseases.

This means Covid-19 was the underlying cause of more deaths last year than any other infectious and parasitic diseases since 1918 – when there were just over 89,000.

The figures were released by the ONS as part of a larger report illustrating how 2020 was ‘a year like no other’.

The report states: ‘It has been a year since people across the UK were told they should limit their non-essential contact with others and stop all unnecessary travel.

‘On March 16, 2020, people were told to work from home wherever possible while everyone was told to “avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues”, to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

‘A week later, on March 23 2020, the UK’s first lockdown would begin. From deaths and the pressure on hospitals, to the number of hours worked and people’s expectations of rising unemployment, we can see how the remarkable figures recorded over the past 12 months compare with others and made this a year like no other.’

Other statistics show how the number of adults requiring critical care far exceeded previous winters.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge pressure placed on the health service during the pandemic, there was nearly double the number of critical care beds open between January 20 and February 5 this year than there was throughout January and February between 2017 and 2020.

More than 5,000 adult critical care beds a day were occupied in hospitals in England in the last week of January this year, compared with around 3,000 a day in the same week in 2020.

Between January 20 and February 5, there were more than 6,000 critical care beds open each day. Throughout January and February between 2017 and 2020, the number ranged between 3,500 and just over 3,900.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.