One on four deaths have link to coronavirus

One in four deaths in England and Wales registered at the end of November involved coronavirus, new figures show.

There were 3,040 deaths registered where "novel coronavirus" was mentioned on the death certificate in the week ending November 27, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is 24.4% of the total deaths registered during that week, and the highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending May 15.

In the North-east, 220 Covid-19 deaths we re registered in the week to November 27 – also the highest since the week to May 15.

It is also up from 2,697 death sin the week to November 20 – a jump of 13% (343 more deaths).

The overall number of deaths registered in the week ending November 27 was 12,456 – 79 fewer deaths than registered during the previous seven days.

This is 20% higher than the average number of deaths for this period of time over the past five years – an increase of 2,099.

In hospitals, care homes, private homes and other locations the number of deaths was above the fiveyear average.

All regions in England had a higher number of deaths than the five-year average for the third week in a row.

The figures show that 77,707 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK.

A total of 75,092 deaths have so far been registered in the UK where Covid -19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the latest reports from the UK's statistics agencies.