UK Covid-19 deaths surpass 175,000, says ONS
The UK’s Covid-19 deaths has surpassed 175,000, according to the Officer for National Statistics (ONS), amid record high infection levels in the UK.
The figure dwarfs that of the government’s official count of 150,000, which requires patients to have had a positive coronavirus test within 28 days before their death.
While infection rates have been hitting record highs in the Omicron wave, the ONS assured that hospital admissions and deaths remain well below the second wave’s peak.
The Omicron wave is said to have peaked in London, according to the city’s regional public health director Kevin Fenton earlier this week.
However, cases continue to rise across the rest of the UK, with young adults the most common group to have caught Covid-19 in the week to December 31.
Cases among those in the most vulnerable age group, those 70 and older, have seen the lowest infection rates in recent weeks.