Weekly Covid deaths in England and Wales fall for the first time since Christmas
The number of Covid-19 deaths in a week in England and Wales fell for the first time since Christmas.
During the first week of February, there were 7,320 deaths registered in England and Wales where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This was a drop of more than 1,000 - a 13% decrease - from 8,433 deaths in the previous week ending January 29.
The last time deaths fell was the week ending on Christmas Day, which included a bank holiday which likely had an impact on registrations.
While the overall number of deaths also fell, 43% of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending February 5 were coronavirus-related - the third highest proportion recorded during the pandemic.
All regions in England and Wales recorded a week-on-week fall in the number of Covid-19 deaths. But there was still an overall higher number of deaths compared to the average for this time over the past five years.
The South East of England had 1,415 deaths in the week ending February 5, down from 1,710 in the week ending January 29.
And in the East of England, there were 1,098 deaths at the beginning of February, down from 1,297 the week before.
Care homes
In care homes across England and Wales, 2,175 care home residents' deaths involved coronavirus in the week to February 5 - also a drop of 13% on the previous week.
This is the first fall since the week ending December 31.
The number of deaths of residents notified to the Care Quality Commission also fell from 695 in the week ending February 5 to 536 in the week ending February 12.
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There were 23 consecutive days in January - from January 7 to 29 - when the daily death toll was above 1,000. During the first wave in April 2020, there were also 23 consecutive days when the daily death toll was above 1,000.
From the beginning of the pandemic to February 5, there have been 133,077 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the ONS.