Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, on Wednesday suggested that the UK COVID-19 actual death toll figures could soon surpass Italy’s.
According to Worldmeter, the current figures in the top five countries as at 3:30pm Nigerian time are the United States – 59,284; Italy – 27,359; Spain – 24,275; France – 23,660; UK – 21,678.
Data published on Tuesday showed fatalities topped to 24,000 nine days ago, but Starmer said his calculations showed 27,241 had died.
If his figures are accurate, it suggests that the UK might surpass Italy as the second worst official death toll globally.
“That makes a total to date of 27,241 recorded deaths from coronavirus and that’s probably underestimate because of the time lag,” Starmer told parliament.
“We are possibly on track to have one of the worst death rates in Europe. Far from success, these latest figures are truly dreadful”, Reuters quoted him as saying.
The Boris Johnson administration is facing criticism for its response to the outbreak.
Johnson is accused of failing to introduce the lockdown earlier.