UK’s Covid death toll passes grim milestone of 140,000
Another grim Covid-19 milestone has been reached as the death toll passes 140,000.
A further 207 people have died in the last 24 hours within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.
The announcement takes the tragic tally up to 140,041, government figures confirm.
Health officials also confirmed another 43,941 cases over the last day.
Separate mortality figures are compiled by the Office for National Statistics which record all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
They run much higher than the government’s measure, having already surpassed 165,000.
Yesterday, 263 further deaths were recorded, the highest daily total since March 3.
Cases have fallen in recent days, perhaps because of the half-term break in schools, but deaths and hospitalisation have climbed up.
The number of patients on ventilators has also increased through October.
Healthcare measures and mortality rates lag behind changes in cases, so any drop in infections won’t be felt on hospital wards for two to three weeks.
Around nine in 10 adults in all parts of the UK continue to have Covid-19 antibodies, new figures suggest.
The estimates range from 90.0% in Wales to 92.2% in England, with 90.8% for Northern Ireland and 91.3% for Scotland.
The presence of coronavirus antibodies suggests someone has had the infection in the past or has been vaccinated.
It takes between two and three weeks after infection or vaccination for the body to make enough antibodies to fight the virus.
Antibodies then remain in the blood at low levels, although these levels can decline over time to the point where tests can no longer detect them.
The latest estimates are from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are based on a sample of blood test results for the week beginning September 27.
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