Photo: Credit Evening Standard
By Harriet Brewis
More than 65,200 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK, with the number of weekly coronavirus-related deaths exceeding 1,000 for the first time since June.
The country has recorded a total of 65,231 deaths involving the virus since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest reports from the UK’s statistics agencies combined with official Department of Health figures.
In the week ending October 30, England and Wales registered a total of 1,379 fatalities where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Tuesday. It is first time the weekly figure has passed the four-figure milestone since the week ending June 12.
It is also the highest number of deaths involving the virus since the week ending June 5 when 1,588 Covid-19 deaths were registered. It marks the eighth consecutive weekly rise, up 401 deaths (41 per cent) from the previous week, which saw 978 Covid-19 deaths registered. For the second week in a row, deaths in hospitals were above the five-year average, with 244 excess deaths. Some 81.7 per cent of the deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the week ending October 30 occurred in hospitals, the ONS said.
On October 29, 189 deaths occurred in hospitals – the highest number by day since May 18. Deaths in private homes remained above the five-year average (871 more deaths), with more than 30,000 excess deaths taking place since the start of the pandemic. There were 104 fewer deaths in care homes compared to the average over five years for this period.
North-west England registered 445 deaths involving Covid-19 in the week ending October 30 – the highest number for the region since the week ending May 15, according to the ONS. It was the region with the largest number and highest proportion of deaths involving coronavirus (25.4 per cent), and saw the largest weekly increase (120 more deaths).
In Yorkshire and the Humber, 204 Covid-19 deaths were registered in the week to October 30 – the highest since the week to June 5. In north-east England, 118 Covid-19 deaths were registered – the highest since the week to May 29.
London was the only English region to have fewer overall deaths than the five-year average. So far 63,110 deaths have been formally registered where the virus was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the statistics bodies.
This includes 57,408 deaths in England and Wales up to October 30 (and registered up to November 7), which were confirmed by the ONS on Tuesday. Since these statistics were compiled, a further 1,836 deaths are known to have occurred in England, plus 78 in Scotland, 125 in Wales and 82 in Northern Ireland, according to additional data published on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.
In England and Wales there have been 36,597 Covid-19 deaths in hospitals, 16,140 in care homes, 2,723 in private homes, 787 in hospices, 236 in other communal establishments and 215 elsewhere. There were 31,684 excess deaths in homes registered between March 7 and October 30, of which 2,676 – eight per cent – involved Covid-19.
Any death involving the coronavirus is counted as an excess death because it did not exist before this year.
Source: Evening Standard