Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales increasing week on week
Covid-related deaths in the UK are increasing week on week, official figures show.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 978 fatalities in England and Wales in the week ending October 23 mentioned "novel coronavirus" on the death certificate, an increase of 308 or 46% on the week before.
It is the highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending June 12.
The latest figures mean that just under 63,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK.
Registered deaths involving Covid-19 increased week-on-week in every region of England in the week to October 23.
Also in the week ending October 23, 9.1% of all deaths in England and Wales were coronavirus-related.
The figure is a marked increase from the week before when deaths where coronavirus was mentioned made up 6.4% of the total.
The rising statistic comes amid an overall increase in the number of deaths compared to the five-year average.
Office for National Statistics data suggests the number of registered deaths in the week ending October 23 was up 10% on the five-year average - with 980 further deaths reported.
That pattern was mirrored too by the number of deaths occurring in hospitals as well as private homes and care homes.
All three measures were above the five-year average for the week ending October 23.
Private homes saw the biggest rise, with 959 deaths beyond the average.
In hospitals there were 14 more deaths above the average, and in care homes 39 more.
The statistics show that the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the week ending October 23 was in the north-west of England, where there were 325 fatalities - the highest number for the region since the week ending May 22.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, 159 Covid-19 deaths were registered in the week to October 23: the highest since the week to June 5.
In north-east England, 114 Covid-19 deaths were registered: the highest since the week to May 29.
A total of 61,257 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.
This includes 55,796 deaths in England and Wales up to October 23 (and registered up to October 31), which were confirmed by the ONS on Tuesday.
Since these statistics were compiled, a further 1,428 deaths are known to have occurred in England, plus 67 in Scotland, 90 in Wales and 80 in Northern Ireland, according to additional data published on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.
Together, these totals mean that so far 62,922 deaths involving Covid-19 have taken place in the UK.