Britain will include deaths in nursing homes and at home in its daily coronavirus death toll from Wednesday as new evidence suggested the overall number of deaths is much greater than the official daily number of those who died in hospitals.

A total of 21,678 people have died of coronavirus in hospitals in Britain, an increase of 586 since Monday. But new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that one in three of those dying of coronavirus are in nursing homes.

The latest figures also show that more people died in Britain in the week beginning April 10th than in the equivalent period since comparable data has been collected in 1993. That week 22,351 died, more than twice the average for the period over the previous five years.

Britain has recorded the highest daily number of deaths from coronavirus of any European country every day for almost a week.

Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, health secretary Matt Hancock rejected accusations that the government moved too slowly to protect nursing home residents by banning visitors.

“The critical thing is that in a care home having visitors also has a positive impact both against the loneliness of the residents but also on their longevity and their mental health. So these are difficult judgments and there are no easy recommendations to make. We were guided by that clinical advice and when it was necessary to make that change, which is quite a firm change, then we did so,” he said.

Garden centres

Downing Street on Tuesday dismissed speculation that ministers are preparing to ease the lockdown over the next few days, although it confirmed that garden centres and other retailers were allowed to offer “click and collect” services.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said people should use a face covering in enclosed public spaces such as shops and public transport, although she made clear that the public should not use medical-grade masks.

Government must also think about the impact of lockdown on our overall health and wellbeing as a nation

“To be clear, the benefit comes mainly in cases where someone might have the virus but is not aware of that because they are not experiencing symptoms and thus not isolating completely. Wearing a face covering in those circumstances may reduce the risk of that person transmitting the virus to others,” she said.

At the Downing Street press conference, however, the deputy chief scientific advisor said there is ”weak evidence of a small effect” of wearing masks, and Mr Hancock said social distancing remained the government’s primary response.

Consequences

Opinion polls show strong public support for the lockdown, but some Conservative MPs want the government to ease the restrictions as soon as possible, and former prime minister Theresa May warned on Tuesday about their unintended consequences.

“Government must also think about the impact of lockdown on our overall health and wellbeing as a nation. That, of course, includes the economy, but it must also include the impact on domestic abuse and mental health. We cannot have a situation where the cure for the disease does more damage than the disease itself,” she told the House of Commons.