UK coronavirus death rate is nearly HALF Spain’s when measured by population size, figures reveal – The Sun
THE UK's coronavirus death rate is nearly half that of Spain's when measured by population size, according to figures.
While not yet past the peak of infections, Britain's death rate per million people is lower than Italy's but almost twice as high as the USA.
The latest statistics from Worldometer look at coronavirus fatalities relative to population size, examining the death rate per million people across the world.
According to this modelling, tiny Belgium – with a population of over 11 million- has the world's second highest rate of fatalities, with 503 deaths per million people.
Spain, a country of 46.9 million people, has 446 deaths per million after suffering 20,852 coronavirus fatalities, the second highest death toll in Europe.
This is almost double the UK's rate, which has 243 deaths per million people though it has Europe's second highest population of 66.5 million.
Meanwhile the US, which currently has the world's highest death toll of 41,228, only has 125 deaths per million people with a population of 328 million.
This puts its death rate per million lower than both Sweden, which has rejected lockdown measures, and the Netherlands.
However, Belgium's figures are also based on the deaths recorded outside hospitals.
As these figures are not yet announced across much of Europe, the true scale of the death rate may not completely clear.
It comes as:
- Britain's lockdown could remain partly in place for a total of three months
- Public Health England has been accused of being caught like 'rabbits in the headlines' when the crisis hit
- Prince Philip, 98, issued a rare public statement to praise 'vital' workers on the frontline
- Piers Morgan blasted the Culture Secretary for 'grotesquely underestimating' the number of people killed by the bug
- Scientists are probing a link between survival rates and Vitamin D
Restrictions have slowly begun to ease across countries in Europe, following weeks of draconian restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
Austria and Italy are allowing thousands of shops to reopen while in Spain non-essential workers are returning to factories and building sites.
But the partial lifting of restrictions came despite a warning by the World Health Organisation it could lead to a "deadly resurgence" of coronavirus.
In the UK the first steps towards normal life could begin within the next four weeks if infection rates begin to fall.
In the “red” phase, people will still be banned from many things they did before the outbreak, but a number of non-essential shops and businesses would re-open.
Some officials are concerned the over-70s and those with poor health may have to be shielded for up to 18 months, even when many of the restrictions have been lifted.
An insider said: “It’s going to be a slow path back. But just because we aren’t talking about it doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking about it.”
For the rest of the UK an “amber” phase could be introduced, with caution still required despite much more economic activity being unlocked.
This would be followed by the green light for much of normal life to resume — but with measures still in place to avoid infection.
2.3million people across the world have been infected with the killer bug since the outbreak at the start of the year.
Countries have shut down and cities become ghost towns as the world tries to tackle the virus spread.
While most recover, at least 160,000 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University based on figures supplied by health authorities around the globe.
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