England and Wales record lowest Covid deaths in six months

Covid deaths in the England and Wales have fallen to the lowest number in over six months, the latest figures show.

A total of 362 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending April 16 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – the lowest number since the week ending October 2.

The figure is down 4% on the previous week’s total, although the ONS said the number of deaths registered is likely to have been affected by the recent Easter bank holidays.

Around one in 29 (3.5%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to April 16 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

Deaths involving Covid-19 among people in all age groups 50 and over have fallen by at least 95% since the second-wave peak.

A total of 196 Covid-19 deaths in the 70-and-over age group occurred in England and Wales in the week ending April 9, down from 7,409 deaths in the week ending January 22 – a drop of 97%.

Deaths for those aged 65-69 fell 96% in the same period, with drops of 95% for those aged 60-64, 94% for those aged 55-59 and 96% for those aged 50-54.

Deaths that occurred in the most recent week of reporting – the week to April 16 – are still being registered.

In the week ending 16 April, deaths involving Covid-19 accounted for 3.5% of all deaths in England and Wales, compared with 4.2% the week before.Of the deaths registered in England and Wales, 362 mentioned “novel coronavirus (Covid-19)». This is 17 fewer coronavirus-related deaths compared with the week before.

The total number of deaths registered in England and Wales was below the five-year average for the sixth consecutive week, the ONS said.

Some 10,438 deaths were registered in the week to April 16, 0.8% below the average for the corresponding period in 2015-19.

Prior to the six most recent weeks, the last time deaths were below average was in the week to September 4 2020.

Of the 362 deaths involving Covid-19 in Week 15 in England and Wales, 275 had this recorded as the underlying cause of death (76.0%).

A total of 152,205 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.

The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,477 on January 19.

During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on April 8 2020.

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