What is the UK coronavirus death toll and how does it compare to other countries?

As the number of known cases and deaths from coronavirus continues to rise in the UK, other countries worldwide are also faced with similar challenges to try and stem the spread of the virus and support their strained health services.

Today it was announced that both Prime Minster Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock had contracted coronavirus and were isolating at home, although both have confirmed that they are experiencing mild symptoms and are doing well.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed today that a further eight people have died in Scotland as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, taking the total who have lost their life to the virus in Scotland to 33.

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Hospitals in England are said to be dealing with over 6,000 coronavirus patients at the moment and the death toll continues to rise.

But how does the UK’s death toll compare to other countries in the world who are fighting the coronavirus pandemic?

What is the UK coronavirus death toll?

As of Friday 27 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that there were 462,684 known cases of coronavirus globally and there have been 20,834 deaths because of the virus.

Of those known cases, a total of 15,579 are known cases of coronavirus in the UK. The total number of deaths due to coronavirus in the UK is currently 759, although that number is now subject to rising on a daily basis.

The official advice from WHO in terms of limiting the possibility of contracting or spreading the virus is as follows: ‘WHO continues to recommend that everyone performs hand hygiene frequently, follows respiratory etiquette recommendations and regularly clean and disinfect surfaces.

‘WHO also continues to recommend the importance of maintaining physical distances and avoiding people with fever or respiratory symptoms. These preventive measures will limit viral transmission.’

How does the UK’s death toll compare to other countries?

The United States currently has the most known coronavirus cases in the world, with their numbers of reported cases surpassing those in both Italy, the worst affected nation in Europe, and China, where the virus first originated.

According to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University in the US, the United States has registered nearly 86,000 cases, compared to China’s 81,961 known cases.

When asked about the high number of confirmed cases in the US, President Donald Trump said in a press briefing yesterday that the numbers spoke to: ‘the amount of testing that we’re doing.’

According to WHO, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy has surpassed 74,000, with the number of confirmed deaths from the virus in the country climbing about 7,500.

The second worst-hit nation in Europe is Spain, where the total number of confirmed cases is more than 47,600 and the death toll is more than 3,400.

Commonwealth countries Australia and New Zealand are yet to see a severe increase in known cases of the virus, with WHO reporting the number of coronavirus diagnoses in the countries as 2,800 and 262 respectively. There have been 11 deaths due to coronavirus in Australia and no reported deaths from the virus in New Zealand.

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