IN JUST ONE WEEK, FATALITIES DROP BY A QUARTER TO LOWEST LEVEL THIS YEAR

CORONAVIRUS deaths have fallen by a quarter in just one week to their lowest level this year, figures show.

There were 4,079 fatalaities registered in England and Wales in the week ending February 19, where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, said the Office for National Statistics.

This is down by 28.3 per cent. The proportion of deaths that involved coronavirus has also fallen – from 37.1 per cent to 29.5 per cent. Overall, there were 13,809 deaths from all causes registered in the week ending February 19 – a 10 per cent fall from the previous seven days.

But there were 2,182 fatalities above what would usually be expected for this week, based on the average over the past five years.

All regions of England recorded a week-on-week fall in the number of Covid-19 deaths. The South-east saw the most at 636, although this was down 35 per cent from 974 in the previous week.

Eastern England saw the second highest number at 566, down 30 per cent from 808.

Some 969 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in the week to February 19, down 35 per cent on the previous week.

A total of 40,355 care home residents in England and Wales have now had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate.