THE UK now has the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe, according to grim new figures.
Data published yesterday revealed that more than 32,000 people have died from the virus.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 29,648 deaths registered in England and Wales before 2 May where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
According to calculations by the Reuters news agency, when deaths from the same time frame in Scotland and Northern Ireland are added this takes the UK’s total to 32,313 – the highest tally in Europe.
In Italy – which had been until now the worst-hit European country – the death toll is 29,029.
Ministers and experts have warned against making international comparisons.
When asked about the figures at the daily Downing Street press conference, Dominic Raab said: “You’re asking me to speculate there. All I’d just say is, first of all, 29,427 lives lost is a massive tragedy, something in this country, on this scale, in this way that we’ve never seen before.
“And, as I said before, my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a loved one.”
He added: “In terms of the comparison that you’re suggesting, as the scientists have all said ... I don’t think we’ll get a real verdict of how countries have done until the pandemic is over. And particularly until we’ve got comprehensive international data on all causes of mortality.”
Speaking to MPs, Jenny Harris, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said: “It is extremely difficult to compare between countries at the moment. We need to not just look at the numbers clearly, but at the rates. The obvious one is age and standardised death rates per million population. Those are not the numbers that are routinely reported, so it is really difficult to do direct comparisons.”
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has dismissed concerns about the new NHS Covid-19 app which is a central plank of the UK government’s plans to ease out of the lockdown.
WATCH: Matt Hancock tells MP Rosena Allin-Khan to watch her ‘tone’
The app – which went live on the Isle of Wight yesterday – uses Bluetooth to detect other nearby phones also running the software.
When someone catches the coronavirus, people can be warned if their phone was within 6ft of that other person’s.
There have been concerns over privacy and the amount of data it gives the government.
But there are fears that the app might not work as well as it needs to.
For the app to work it will need to be running in the foreground of a person’s smart phone at all times.
If the phone locks then the app won’t work.
Hancock said concerns about the app expressed by lawyers and civil right groups like Amnesty International UK were misplaced.
“The purposes of this are purely and simply to control the spread of the virus, which is really important,” he told BBC Breakfast. “We’ve all had to give up significant infringements on our liberty – for instance, with the social distancing measures and the lockdown – and we want to release those, and this approach will help us to release them.”
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said ministers need to explain why, unlike other European countries, Britain is establishing a central database to store information.
“We remain concerned that the Government is using the coronavirus pandemic to normalise technologies that threaten our privacy rights, and which the public would not accept in ordinary circumstances,” she said.
Ministers have said that if the pilot on the Isle of Wight – which began on Tuesday with NHS and council staff – is successful, the app could be rolled out across the country within weeks.
Hancock said the more people who sign up to it, the more effective it will be.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he hopes the trial succeeds but said other measures needed to be in place.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “If you put all your eggs in the basket of this particular app – which I want to work as much as anybody else – a) it may not work, or b) it may be that not enough people take it up.”
Meanwhile, the UK Government fell short on its target of 100,000 tests a day for the third day running, with around 85,000 tests completed.
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