Coronavirus: UK becomes worst-hit country in Europe as death toll overtakes Italy

The United Kingdom has reported the highest death toll in Europe, overtaking Italy to become the second worst-hit country in the world.

Britain’s coronavirus death toll has reached more than 29,400, according to the government, pushing it above Italy to become the second worst-hit country in the world.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced the new toll of 29,427 on Tuesday, adding that the outbreak was “not over yet” and the next phase of the virus would not “be easy”.

Earlier on Tuesday, a separate set of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) put the UK’s death toll at 32,313.

Either way, Britain now has the highest number of deaths in Europe and the second highest toll in the world behind the US, which has reported 69,000 deaths.

Mr Raab announced the UK’s death toll had reached over 29,000 on Tuesday. Picture: Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/AFP

Mr Raab described the death toll as a “massive tragedy” but cautioned against comparing the figure to others reported overseas.

England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty has previously said that “different countries are recording different things in relation to deaths”.

Nick Stripe, the head of health analysis at the ONS, also cautioned against comparing death tolls, saying: “No country reports on death registrations data as fast, frequently, or to such breadth and depth as we can in the UK”.

Boris Johnson last week declared Britain “past the peak” of its outbreak. Picture: Ian Vogler-WPA Pool/Getty Images

The news will put pressure on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who last week declared Britain was “past the peak” of its outbreak.

“We’re on the downward slope and we have so many reasons to be hopeful for the long term,” he said.

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The PM has promised to unveil a “comprehensive” plan on Thursday outlining how he will begin easing lockdown restrictions and get Britons back to work.

But Opposition politicians have accused the government of leading Britain to “disaster”, saying it was too slow to provide enough protective equipment to hospitals and introduce mass testing.

“This is a monumental catastrophe. Almost all countries have been affected by the deadly virus. But this government's mismanagement of it has led us to disaster,” Labour MP Diane Abbott said on Twitter.

“I’d be amazed if, when we look back, we don’t think: yep we could have done something differently there,” the government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said in response to questions on testing.

– With wires