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Six months since first UK Covid death: timeline of key numbers


By PA News

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The first death involving coronavirus in the UK occurred on March 2 2020.

Since then, more than 57,000 deaths have taken place across the country where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate.

Here are the key dates, numbers and milestones from the past six months.

Figures are based on the latest data on death registrations published by Office for National Statistics, the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, and are for when deaths actually took place, not when they were reported.

March 2: First known death involving coronavirus. The patient, who had tested positive for Covid-19, was aged 80 or over and died in a hospital in Essex, according to data published by NHS England.

March 6: First deaths involving Covid-19 in a care home (two deaths in care homes in England).

March 12: First death in Scotland.

March 15: Cumulative number of UK deaths involving Covid-19 passes 100. First death in Wales.

March 18: First death in Northern Ireland.

March 23: Cumulative number of deaths passes 1,000. On the evening of March 23, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces UK-wide lockdown.

March 31: Cumulative number of deaths passes 5,000.

April 2: The first of 22 days in a row where more than 1,000 deaths involving Covid-19 take place each day in the UK.

April 5: Cumulative number of deaths passes 10,000.

April 8: 1,450 deaths involving Covid-19 take place in the UK – the highest number for a single day.

(PA Graphics)
(PA Graphics)

April 13: Cumulative number of deaths passes 20,000.

April 21: Cumulative number of deaths passes 30,000.

May 2: Cumulative number of deaths passes 40,000.

May 10: Mr Johnson announces first easing of lockdown, which applies only in England.

May 23: Cumulative number of deaths passes 50,000.

June 18: Number of deaths per day dips below 100 for the first time since March 19.

June 21: Cumulative number of deaths involving Covid-19 passes 55,000.

As of September 1, the total stands at just under 57,200. The number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – the Government’s official death toll – currently stands at just over 41,500.

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