The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United Kingdom in late January 2020. there have been 15,147,120 confirmed cases and 151,899 confirmed deaths overall,Death figures are those who have died after testing positive. It does not include the death of one British citizen on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship (see COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships), or the 84 recorded deaths in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. the world's 31st-highest death-rate per capita. There were 174,233 deaths where the death certificate mentioned COVID-19 by January 15 (see Statistics). More than 90% of those dying had underlying illnesses or were over 60 years old. The infection rate is higher in care homes than in the community, which is inflating the overall infection rate. There is large regional variation in the outbreak's severity. In March, London had the highest number of infections while North East England has the highest infection rate. England is the country of the UK with the most such deaths per capita, while Northern Ireland has the lowest. Healthcare in the UK is devolved to each country.
