LONDON Hundreds more people with Covid-19 have died in Britain than have been recorded in the government’s daily tally, official figures showed Tuesday, including a tide of deaths in nursing homes that staff say are being overlooked. The Office for National Statistics said 5,979 deaths that occurred in England up to April 3 involved Covid-19, 15% more than the 5,186 deaths announced by the National Health Service for the same period. Worldwide, more than 1.9 million infections have been reported and over 119,000 people have died. As of Monday, the government had reported 11,329 deaths in the UK of people with the new coronavirus. That total, updated daily, only includes people who died in hospitals. The higher figure, published weekly by the statistics office, includes deaths in all settings including nursing homes, and cases where coronavirus was suspected but not tested for. The statistics office said that up to April 3 just under 10% of deaths involving Covid-19 occurred outside hospitals. Care home operators and staff say that figure likely underestimates the true toll in facilities that house some of the country’s oldest and most vulnerable people. The boss of one of Britain’s biggest nursing home operators said Tuesday that the number of coronavirus cases.
