Deaths from Covid-19 ‘at the lowest level since lockdown’

WEEKLY CORONAVIRUS deaths have fallen by almost a third within seven days and remain at the lowest level since before the lockdown, official statistics show.

There were 366 deaths registered in the week ending July 10 involving Covid-19, accounting for 4.2 per cent of all deaths in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It is a 31.2 per cent fall from the previous week, when there were 532 deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate. It is also the fourth week in a row that deaths have been below the number usually expected at this time of year, based on a five-year average.

Some 8,690 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week to July 10, according to the ONS, 560 fewer than the five-year average of 9,250.

The number of deaths in care homes and hospitals was also below the five-year average – 283 and 901 deaths lower respectively. But deaths in private homes remain above the average, with 706 deaths higher during the week. Health Secretary Matt Hancock posted on that Twitter that while “every death is a tragedy, this data is hugely promising”.

The ONS said the pandemic is likely to have brought forward some deaths of vulnerable or elderly people, which could explain the current period of below-average deaths.

The data released yesterday takes the number of deaths registered in the UK involving Covid-19 to just over 56,100. Some 51,096 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in England and Wales up to July 10, and had been registered by Saturday.

In Yorkshire, a further two deaths were recorded in those who had tested positive for coronavirus yesterday, bringing the region’s total to 2,878.

National figures have been paused amid an investigation into their accuracy.