TEST Valley has registered more coronavirus-related deaths than an entire country of 25 million people.

Latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday show that more of the borough's residents have died due to the virus than in the whole of Australia.

A total of 107 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded in Test Valley as of May 29. Australia, by comparison, has registered 102.

That’s despite the borough having a population that equates to roughly half a per cent of the commonwealth nation.

The area has also registered more deaths than a host of European nations with populations that run into the millions, including Croatia, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Lithuania and Estonia.

The new figures also show that Test Valley has registered the third-highest number of coronavirus-related deaths across Hampshire, behind only Southampton (156 deaths) and the New Forest (124).

However, latest numbers show that the figures are declining on a week-to-week basis.

The four registered in the borough between May 22 and May 29 was less than both the previous week (nine) and the week before that (12).

Three of the four deaths were registered in care homes, and one in hospital.

It means that of the 107 deaths in total, 58 per cent have now occurred in a care home setting and 39 per cent in hospital.

One has been registered at a person’s home and two in an ‘other communal establishment’.

ONS has confirmed with the Advertiser that the numbers refer to the place of residence of the deceased, rather than the place where the death occurred.

It means that of the hospital deaths registered in Test Valley, these did not necessarily occur at a hospital within the borough, and that the deceased had simply resided in the area prior to his or her passing.

As for the comparison with Australia, the country’s low death toll has been attributed to a number of factors.

In April, the Daily Mail reported that Australia ‘lead the world in testing for coronavirus’ with the highest rate of testing per capita, equating to more than one per cent of the population being tested.

Limits on social gatherings were imposed early on, initially forbidding meetings of more than 500 people, then 10 and eventually just two, while borders were closed to non-nationals as early as March, with only a handful of exceptions to the rule.

Anyone, including nationals, arriving in the country from overseas was also required to self-isolate for two weeks. The UK has required all arrivals to do the same as of Monday, June 8.

Other factors such as population density would likely have had an on the spread of the virus, with Australia’s population spread over a far larger area than in the UK.

Speaking to the Independent in April, Australian epidemiologist Professor John Mathews said: “People tend to live in larger houses, spaced further apart than the stacked apartments you commonly find in Europe.”