THE number of deaths caused by Covid in the UK has now exceeded 200,000.

Nearly as many deaths have been caused over six months by Omicron as were caused by the more virulent Delta strain, which was dominant for around seven months until December last year.

This reflects substantially higher infection rates.

At the peak of the Delta wave in September, one in 45 Scots had Covid, whereas the infection rate during the Omicron wave has never dipped below one in 50 this year and peaked at one in 11.

The Herald:

In total, there have been 22,787 deaths in the UK between January 8 and July 1 2022 with Covid as a cause of death on the death certificate, compared to 23,512 during the Delta wave from June 11 2021 to January 7 2022.

 

 

However, the majority - over 90,300 - occurred up to December 25 2020, before vaccines were rolled out, with a further 63,731 occurring during the subsequent Alpha wave.

It comes as Public Health Scotland confirmed that over half of cases in Scotland are now being caused by the BA.5 sublineage of Omicron. 

Prof Philip Banfield, council chair of the British Medical Association, said: “This terrible loss of life must serve as an important reminder that Covid-19 has not gone away and remains a serious threat to public health.”

Jo Goodman, a co-founder of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign, said it was "yet another damning milestone of the government’s handling of the pandemic."

 

 

Overall, the UK has recorded one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world, with around 260 deaths per 100,000 compared to around 300 per 100,000 in the US and around 240 per 100,000 in the European Union. 

In contrast, Australia and Japan - which imposed strict border controls until a large portion of the their populations were vaccinated - have recorded around 40 and 20 Covid deaths per 100,000 respectively.