COVID-19: Who are the 50,000 people who have died with coronavirus in the UK?
Thursday 12 November 2020 08:22, UK
More than 50,000 people have now died with coronavirus in the UK, according to the latest figures from public health agencies.
The graph below, which is a left-right timeline with the height indicating the number of deaths occurring every day, tells the story of how we reached such a toll.
Live COVID-19 updates from the UK and around the world
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects a different set of data that puts the number of people who have died from COVID at more than 60,000.
The following charts show what we know about those people:
Where did the deaths occur?
The ONS has collected figures on deaths when COVID was mentioned on the death certificate.
There were more than 18,000 COVID-related deaths in care homes between the week ending 13 March and the week ending 30 October.
However, experts say there were many more that will not have been counted.
How old were those who died?
For several weeks during April, there were more than double the number of deaths than would have been expected.
Many of these 'excess' deaths did not mention COVID-19 on death certificates.
What gender were those who died?
55% of those who died were men.
Initially, as had been the case in other parts of the world where the virus killed large numbers early on, men were much worse affected, but this has since levelled off.
Some experts have said that part of the reason for this may be genetic, while others have cited the fact that the occupations that men tend to have, may have made them more exposed in the earlier stage of the pandemic.
What is the ethnic background of those who died?
The following chart shows the number from each ethnic group who have died out of every 100,000 people from that ethnic group.
The ONS found that, in England and Wales, the rate of death among black African males was 3.8 times higher than among those of white background, while for black African females the rate was 2.9 times higher.
All ethnic groups other than Chinese females were at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than people from a white background.
Even after geography, socio-economic background and health conditions are taken into account, males of black African background were 2.5 times more likely to die than those of white background.
Black African females were at 2.1 times greater risk.
What jobs did they do?
The men with the highest rates of mortality have tended to work in elementary jobs - those that are less highly skilled, require a lower level of education and have fewer barriers to entry. Among women, those in health occupations have had higher deaths rates.
Many of the types of jobs that have been worst affected are "front facing" roles, that involve working with people and which cannot be performed from home.
These tend to be performed by people in lower paid jobs.
What has been the previous state of health of those who have died?
In the early stages of the pandemic, many people thought they may be protected if they did not suffer a pre-existing health condition.
The fact that nearly three in 10 of those under 45 who have died did not have an existing illness has shown it can kill many who were previously healthy.
Analysis
By Rowland Manthorpe, technology correspondent
Looking back at 50,000 deaths brings a grim sense of perspective. Many hours and many thousands of words have been spent considering decisions the coronavirus crisis, from the very small to the very big. The deaths data shows that one decision loomed especially large.
In mid-March, more than 100,000 people were being infected every day. The outbreak was doubling every three days. Yet, at a moment when every day, every hour, mattered, the governments of the UK delayed.
The vast majority of those 50,000 deaths took place over the next month, as that tsunami of infections worked its way through the population.
It is impossible to know how many could have been saved by an earlier lockdown, but Professor Neil Ferguson estimated that locking down a week earlier could have halved the death toll, and evidence from other countries supports that assertion.
That one fateful decision in March could have changed so much for so many people.