MORE than 44,000 people have now died in England from Covid-19 or because of the lockdown, a statistical expert has said.

Statistician Nigel Marriott said data suggests that, on top of almost 33,000 deaths where Covid-19 has been registered on the death certificate, there were a further 11,000 deaths directly or indirectly linked to Covid-19 as of May 1.

He estimates that 44,000 people have now died as a result of Covid-19 or as a result of the lockdown across England.

He said: “In April, the 44,000 excess deaths over what we would normally expect for this time of year have been at record levels.”

Marriott said the 11,000 additional deaths may be from people who have actually died from coronavirus but this has not been recorded, or could be down to suicide in lockdown, unhealthy behaviours or people not seeking NHS help.

“We don’t know the reason for the 11,000 additional deaths but a number of suggestions have been made,” he said.

“This could be because of the lockdown, such as if people are getting depressed and committing suicide or they are drinking too much and reasons like that. It could be as a result of people not going to hospital with chest pain or stroke or other symptoms. The worry, of course, is that the campaign to protect the NHS may have been too successful.

“One possible contributor to this is that the people who would have rung their doctors or who would have gone to A&E and would have called an ambulance didn’t do so.”

Marriott is using data from the NHS, Public Health England and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to make estimates for England.

On Tuesday, figures released by the NHS and the ONS showed a total of 26,008 deaths involving Covid-19 had now been registered across the UK as of April 24.

Marriott expects a further 7000 registered deaths in the following week, making 33,000 in total by May 1.

Meanwhile, Heathrow has announced it will begin temperature screening of passengers.

It comes despite Downing Street insisting the measure is not regarded as an effective way of tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The west London airport said it will launch a trial in the next fortnight involving cameras that monitor temperatures.

They will initially be used to monitor arriving passengers in Heathrow’s immigration halls but could also be deployed in areas for departures, connections and airport staff searches.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said it will trial technologies and processes that could form the basis of a common international standard for health screening at airports in a bid to encourage passengers to return to flying.

Temperature screening of passengers has been in use by airports in some countries for several weeks.

Holland-Kaye urged the Government to “help restart aviation”.

He added: “The UK has the world’s third-largest aviation sector, offering the platform for the Government to take a lead in agreeing a common international standard for aviation health with our main trading partners.”

Professor Ashley Woodcock, associate dean for clinical affairs and professor of respiratory medicine at University of Manchester, said around 3-5% of the population are asymptomatic, have a normal temperature and are carrying Covid-19.