Number of UK Covid deaths passes 200,000, ONS data shows

More than 200,000 Covid deaths have been recorded across the UK, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

A total of 200,247 Covid deaths have occurred, with 294 in the last week. The figures include deaths due to Covid-19 as well as those involving the virus.

The UK’s excess mortality rate is also higher than other European averages, running at 2,070 per million people, more than twice that of Germany’s, at 1,110, according to Our World in Data.

The proportion of people dying because of Covid as a primary cause of death compared with those whose death certificates mention the virus either as the main cause or a contributory factor has also fallen over the course of the pandemic.

Analysis of registrations figures for England and Wales for the pandemic to date shows that, in the first wave, 91% of people died directly as a result of Covid.

Since Omicron became the dominant variant that figure has fallen to 68% of Covid deaths, with 60% of deaths due to the virus in recent weeks as a result of the reduced severity of the strain and the success of the vaccine rollout.

The 200,247 figure differs slightly from those reported on the Covid dashboard, which uses uses registration data and the government’s preferred count of deaths within 28 days of a positive test, which stood at 177,977 as of 9.30am on Wednesday.