Winter death rates jump by 6% amid flu outbreak

DEATH counts are up by more than 7,000 in the midst of the worst winter health crisis for years.

Official figures show the number of deaths in England and Wales this winter is up per cent compared to the average seen over the last five years.

The data shows 125,800 died of any cause between October 1 and December 22 – compared with 118,700 for the same period in previous years. It means 7,100 more died in those three months than did in previous years. The NHS is in the midst of its worst flu outbreak in seven years, with the number of patients visiting their GP with symptoms doubling in a single week.

Some 85 deaths have been confirmed to have been caused by flu in laboratory reports, which are likely to capture only a fraction of the true number.

Public Health England said: ‘From our analysis there isn’t any significant excess mortality yet.’