The United Kingdom now has the most deaths in Europe from the coronavirus pandemic, recording more than 29,427. It surpassed early Covid-19 hotspot Italy on Tuesday, according to figures released by the government.

The latest total for Italy, previously the highest in Europe, now stands at 29,315.

Experts say it could be months before full global comparisons can be made... BBC head of statistics Robert Cuffe said Britain reached this figure faster in its epidemic than Italy. But he said there are caveats in making such a comparison, including the UK population being about 10% larger than Italy's.

The BBC is really hammering on this idea that the UK's larger population makes this somehow inevitable. It's such absolute horseshit. Germany's population is much higher than the UK's, and they've only recorded 8,000 deaths. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/05/uk-coronavirus-death-toll-now.html