Coronavirus: England highest level of excess deaths

England had the highest levels of excess deaths in Europe between the end of February and the middle of June, official analysis shows.

The Office for National Statistics says England saw the second highest peak rates of death in Europe, after Spain.

But England had the longest period where deaths were above average, and so overall had the highest levels.

Areas in Spain and Italy, like Milan and Madrid, were harder hit than cities in the UK

But the ONS analysis shows the epidemic in the UK was more widespread than in other countries, with Scotland seeing the third highest death rate in Europe.

By 23 May, the death rate in England was 7.5% higher than it has been in recent years.

Spain's increase, 6.7%, was the second highest in the countries studied followed by Scotland's rise of 5.1%.

Wales and Northern Ireland both also featured in the list of hardest-hit countries.

Edward Morgan of the ONS said the wide spread of the virus combined with the relatively slow downward "tail" of the pandemic in the UK were key reasons that England saw 'the highest overall relative excess mortality out of all the European countries compared".

During a visit to North Yorkshire, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked if he was ashamed that England had the highest excess death rate in Europe.

He said: "We mourn every loss of life that we've had throughout the coronavirus epidemic."

The prime minister said that the country owes it to the families of those who died "to continue our work in driving the virus down", adding that it had "massive success" in reducing the number of deaths.

The virus was "under some measure of control" while "we're looking at a resurgence of the virus in some other European countries" as well as in the US, Mr Johnson said.

The new analysis adds to previous studies of excess deaths by taking account of the ages of the population in each country.

At its worst, the death rate in Spain was nearly 2.5 times its usual level.

That was worse than in England where the peak number of deaths was nearly 2.2 times its usual level.

An animated guide: What are excess deaths?

• Other excess deaths[hhmc]

  14,000

  Covid deaths[hhmc]

  45,200

  Let's use the UK as an example. If 2020 had been an average year, the dotted line in the chart below shows how many people we would have expected to die each week. This is known as expected deaths and is calculated based on the number of deaths in previous years.

• Other excess deaths[hhmc]

  14,000

  Covid deaths[hhmc]

  45,200

  Any deaths above those expected are known as excess deaths. During the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have recorded significantly more deaths than expected this year.

  

• Other excess deaths[hhmc]

  14,000

  Covid deaths[hhmc]

  45,200

  Many of these excess deaths can be explained by the number of people who were officially confirmed to have had Covid-19. But in many places, that does not account for all the excess deaths.

  

• Other excess deaths[hhmc]

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