Coronavirus-related deaths now account for one-third of all deaths being reported in England and Wales, according to the latest analysis by the Office for National Statistics.

For the number of deaths registered in the week to 10 April, 6,213 deaths mentioned “novel coronavirus (Covid-19)” on the death certificate, which is 33 per cent of all deaths. The ONS said this compared to just 3,475 deaths, or 21 per cent, for the previous week.

It also found Covid-19 deaths in care homes in England and Wales have more than quadrupled to 1,043, while the number of people who died in private homes has more than tripled to 466.

Experts from the University of Oxford said it now appeared the peak in deaths for England and Wales was around 8 April but Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the university warned deaths in care homes may still rise as hospital deaths fall because of delays in the infection being "seeded" into homes and the lag time between infection and death.

Compared with the five year average for the week ending the 10 April there were 7,996 so-called "excess" deaths. While 78 per cent mentioned Covid-19, more than one in five did not.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said the latest data "clearly shows we are in a steadily, but rather slowly, improving position since the peak of deaths on April 8".

"But, judging from the experience in Italy, this could be a lengthy process," he warned.

The ONS said 13,121 deaths occurred in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 10 April 2020 – 3,833 more than were reported by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The data shows the level of coronavirus in the community and people dying in their own home, hospices and other settings such as care homes.

The UK testing regime has been focused on hospital patients until last week, meaning the scale of impact of coronavirus in the community has been unknown until the ONS analysis, which is now published weekly.

The number of deaths in England to 10 April was stated to be 10,260 by the NHS, but these figures were 2,256 less than the toll given the ONS.

The ONS said the number of deaths registered in the week ending 10 April was 18,517, an increase of 2,129 deaths compared to the previous seven days and almost 8,000 more than the five-year average – the highest weekly total since 2000.

In London, over half (53 per cent) of deaths registered the week to 10 April involved Covid-19. The West Midlands also had a high proportion of Covid-19 deaths, accounting for 37 per cent of deaths registered.

Comparing “total deaths” registered by where they occurred, between the week ending March 13, when the first Covid-19 deaths were registered, and the week ending 10 April, the number of deaths in care homes has doubled by 2,456 deaths.

Loading....

There has been a 72 per cent increase (3,603 deaths) in hospitals, and 51 per cent increase in deaths in private homes (1,392 deaths).