Official figures show coronavirus in the UK has passed the death toll of 50,000. This makes a grave milestone the country has seen yet in its fight against coronavirus.
This figure has been reported only 10 weeks following UK’s lockdown. This put Britain on the list of countries that are hit the worst by the coronavirus pandemic. As a whole, the pandemic has led to 375,000 deaths worldwide.
Johns Hopkins University, researchers conclude the death toll of the UK beats other adversely-affected countries in Europe. European countries like Italy, France, and Spain have death rates that are surpassed by the UK; The US however passes Uk’s death toll.
Deaths registered in England and Wales including suspected and confirmed cases have topped to several 44,401 just by 22 May, Office for National Statistics report. Once recent figures from Scotland and Northern Ireland, contributed by NHS and statistics authorities, are added to the mix the tally reaches 50,032.
A prediction in April by disease analysts in the US is brought to notice as it states the UK to possibly record 66,000 deaths by August.
Earlier in March, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, was reported to say that a safe death toll would be below 20,000. He thought it to be a good outcome of the struggle with this outbreak.
It is reported since the beginning of the pandemic, around 15,000 people alone died in care homes. Hospitals have struggled while making sure not to be overwhelmed. They faced two months of intense pressure. The staff on these hospitals treated and handled tens of thousands of lethal cases. Milder cases of treatment were on hold or were suspended.
Deaths due to coronavirus in the UK have rounded up to 50,000 death milestone following Boris Johnson’s loosening of restrictions on the lockdown. The governments’ responses to the pandemic therefore will be met with increased scrutiny. It has already been previously questioned in different areas.
The UK observed lockdown on 23 March; this was speculated by most people as a rather late response to the pandemic. Former Chief scientific adviser for the government Sir David King said lives are lost daily.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) became hard to find as health and care workers ran out of them. This gear is essential for such workers to limit the spread of infections.
Mass testing and tracing included in the early plan ended on the 12th of May. Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said an increase in testing capacity to 100,000 per day would only be done near the end of April.
A UCL study reported black and minority ethnicities (BAME) have suffered disproportionately. They have been affected to the extent that they are two to three times more at risk to die from Covid-19 than the population generally.
Mortality rates all over England and Wales have been 22% above the average rate found in a span of five years, though figures show that the death rate has been continuing to fall in comparison to the seven weeks before when it was climbing.
The Care Quality Commission published data separately showing how much the impact of the virus on differently-abled people living in care and dependent on care support have suffered. The data shows 134% increased the number of annual deaths. 386 deaths are that of people with learning disabilities, a few of which might also be autistic.
Around the same time last year, people receiving care subscribed to services that give support to learning disabilities and autism were found to have a death toll of 165.
These reports are a grim and sad reminder that coronavirus in the UK has a considerable impact on people with autism and disabilities. The numbers are a call for help to make the government put in place testing programs more inclusive of disabled people of employable age who require and use care services, says Dr. Rhidian Hughes, the chief executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group.
