MORE than 70,000 people have died in the UK as a result of contracting coronavirus, alarming new figures show.

The total is based on the latest available reports on death registrations, plus more recent data on the Conservative Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Figures published yesterday by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency show 1227 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in Northern Ireland up to November 13 and had been registered by November 18.

Separate figures published earlier this week by the National Records of Scotland showed 5135 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to November 15.

And a total of 59,549 coronavirus-related deaths occurred in England and Wales up to November 6 and had been registered up to November 14, according to the latest report from the Office for National Statistics.

Together, these figures mean that so far 65,911 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

But since these statistics were compiled, a further 4343 deaths are known to have occurred in the UK, according to additional data published on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

The grim news of the death toll came as around 2.3 million Scots entered level 4 restrictions, close to the full lockdown situation in Spring.