the uk has become the first country in
europe and the fifth in the world
to record more than 50 000 deaths
because of coronavirus
the prime minister said every death was
a tragedy and he warned that britain was
not out of the woods yet
today another 595 deaths have been
reported
all people who have died within 28 days
of a positive covid19 test
the death toll now stands at 50 365.
according to the office for national
statistics four-fifths of the deaths
registered in england and wales
were people over the age of 75. our
health correspondent catherine burns has
been speaking to some of those who have
lost loved ones
in the second wave of this pandemic
peter davies and steve horsfall lived
less than 40 miles from each other
and died 11 days apart both in the
second wave of coronavirus
that's been the hardest thing is not
being able to hug people
my dad was 79 but i do believe he had a
lot of years left
peter was a family man he died the week
before his 52nd wedding anniversary
he was a brilliant dad who also doted on
his grandchildren
he was overweight but healthy until he
went into hospital with a water
infection
he wasn't an ill man he wasn't a frail
man he died purely i've covered if kovi
didn't exist my dad would still be here
steve was a teacher but that barely
begins to sum him up
he was in a rock tribute band a
photographer
and a biker wherever he went on his bike
he'd take an ice cream selfie
he had asthma and type 2 diabetes but
didn't think he'd get covered
at the end of september though he and
his wife became sick
at the same time it was awful because
we were both so ill his oxygen levels
were quite low enough to make us realize
that he needed
medical attention the last vision i kind
of have of my dad
before his last day was him in the back
of an ambulance in
a wheelchair so sorry
that's that's um that's the last vision
i have of him as
as being okay really it's
six weeks since bev lost her dad not
even five for sue
and now the uk has reached a grim
milestone
the first in europe to do so 50 000
deaths every every death is a is a
tragedy we we mourn
uh everybody who's gone and and and our
feelings are with the
their families as and friends as well
the government was slow at phase one
they haven't learned the lessons into
phase two and we we owe it
to all of the families who are grieving
um
to get on top of the virus these people
are not
numbers they're not statistics they're
people that are loved
and that love other people and that
they're miss hugely
sue kept hoping and believing that steve
would be okay
right until the end the shock came when
i got a call
on the early hours of the friday morning
to say that it developed a complication
and that his heart had stopped and
the reason why his heart had stopped was
a clot on his lung and
i knew they did everything they possibly
could
bev and her mum were able to see her dad
one last time in hospital wearing full
ppe
he was talking when we first went into
the room he said where have you been
and then started with very very labored
breathing which was just um
i can't just
horrific to listen to that um you know
my big strong dad as i saw her in
people used to say you only live once
and here i want you to turn around and
say
um you only die once
let you live life every day and he says
you've got to make the best of every day
sue horsefall remembering her husband
steve our health editor hugh pim
is with me now and every story is
absolutely heartbreaking
more than 50 000 deaths already in the
uk and we're being warned over and over
again of the difficult
winter ahead yes sophie tragic stories
there it seems like an age ago that a
senior government adviser said back in
march that anything below
20 000 deaths would be a good outcome
now we're above
50 000 they cover all deaths within 28
days of a positive test but there's a
broader definition
which looks at all death certificates
with covid listed as a cause that's more
than 61
000 deaths so where does the uk stand in
comparison
with other countries well we can look at
some of the data
in terms of deaths relative to
population per 100
000 people and i've developed economies
belgium has the highest at 119
followed by spain and brazil and there's
the uk at 75 per 100
000 ahead of the us and france
and quite a lot above germany there for
that
comparison it has to be said that all
countries measure debt in slightly
different
ways we'll have to wait a bit longer for
the excess deaths in total
above averages in each of these
countries to get a broader comparison
if you look at new admissions to
hospitals and new cases on the graphs
those are flattening out a little bit
which may be a bit more
positive deaths are a lagging indicator
reflecting infections two or three weeks
ago
and public health england have said
today this trend we've identified today
will continue
and it'll be several weeks they say
before current lockdown restrictions
have any impact thank you