The ONS report, entitled "Coronavirus: A Year Like No Other", was released to mark the one year anniversary of people in the UK first being told to limit their non-essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel.
The report confirmed that COVID-19 caused more deaths last year than other infectious diseases caused in any year for more than 100 years.
More than 140,000 people have died in the UK with coronavirus either described as the underlying cause or as a contributory cause on their death certificates.
Some 73,500 people in England and Wales who died in 2020 had COVID-19 registered as the underlying cause of death.
The ONS said coronavirus is "likely to be classed as an infectious and parasitic disease", allowing a comparison with previous deadly outbreaks.
The statistics body said: "This means COVID-19 was the underlying cause of more deaths in 2020 than any other infectious and parasitic diseases had caused in any year since 1918; that year there were just over 89,900 deaths from various infectious and parasitic diseases registered in England and Wales."
Chris Elston, an activist who lives in Vancouver and has been travelling to campaign against giving puberty blockers to children, was attacked by a group on a downtown Montreal street on Friday night.
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He has been a vocal opponent of the SOGI 1 2 3 curriculum in his native BC and has started travelling around the country to raise awareness about how children are, according to him, having their lives ruined by drugs and sometimes even surgery at very young ages.
"I was having peaceful conversations on Saint-Catherine Street, joined by a local man. A bunch of these thugs suddenly swarmed me, I'm told there were about 7."
"I took one punch to the face and one right hook to the back of my head from that big guy, but I'm hard-headed so no worries. For the record, I did not fight back. I don't need police arresting me again for defending myself."
Apparently at the end of the day, the injuries were more severe than Elston initially thought:
"My left forearm is broken, but I feel worse for my new friend who came out to support. He took a blow and had his expensive watch broken."
Later, Elston continued tweeting:
"I've got a messed up forearm, a fat lip, and a popped vein in my hand, but this is nothing compared to what's happening to children across this country. If criminals think an assault is going to slow me down, they're dead wrong. Children Cannot Consent to Puberty Blockers!"
Elston has spoken to local police to give them details of the attack, and believes that it was premeditated. One can indeed see a mustard bottle used by one attacker in the video. Police are reviewing CCTV footage from the area.
"And in case anyone is wondering, this was a premeditated attack. They even came with a mustard squirt bottle. I 'think' they jumped out of 1 or 2 cars but they were on us in a heartbeat. Never seen them in my life. All is good! Stay positive! We're spreading awareness!"
Elston goes to Toronto tomorrow for further interviews and vows to continue with his activism, saying that he "doesn't need to arms to have a conversation."
Elston went on to say in a statement:
"I think these violent people think that through their violent actions they're going to succeed in silencing people and it's not going to work. More and more people are coming out with me now, so I think we'll be safer. But I'm not going to let them silence me. We have thousands of kids coming to harm and our government is going a thousand miles an hour in the wrong direction."
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