THE number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK has now passed 40,000, according to the latest available data.
The total includes new figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
These figures show that 35,044 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in England and Wales up to May 1 (and had been registered up to May 9).
The latest figures from the National Records of Scotland, published last week, showed 2795 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to May 3.
And the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, also published last week, showed 516 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Northern Ireland up to May 6.
Together these figures mean that so far 38,355 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.
A further 1678 hospital patients in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between May 2 and May 10, according to figures published on Monday by NHS England – which, together with the total figure of 38,355 registered deaths, indicates the overall death toll for the UK is just over 40,000.
READ MORE: ‘Too many are still dying’ of coronavirus, says Nicola Sturgeon
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at the ONS, said the total number of deaths registered across England and Wales to the week ending Friday May 1 was 17,953.
Speaking to BBC News, he said: "That is about 4000 lower than it was the week before but it is still 8000 above the average that we would expect to see in this week at this time of year.
"So it is actually the seventh highest weekly total since this data set started in 1993 so we have had four out of the top seven weeks in the last four weeks."
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