Four in 10 deaths registered in week ending January 15 involved Covid – ONS

Coronavirus accounted for four in 10 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending January 15 – the highest proportion recorded during the pandemic, figures show.

There were 7,245 deaths registered where “novel coronavirus” was mentioned on the death certificate in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS said).

This is a 19.6% rise from the previous week, when 6,057 deaths were registered.

It is also the third highest weekly number recorded during the pandemic and at 40.2%, the week with the highest proportion of deaths involving Covid-19 recorded so far.

The number of deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes continued to rise, with 1,271 deaths in care homes registered in the week ending January 15.

This is up 32.3% from 960 the previous week.

Overall, there were 1,719 deaths of care home residents involving coronavirus either in the home, at hospital or another location, up 25.4% from the previous seven days.

Separate Care Quality Commission data shows it was notified of 2,314 deaths of care home residents in the week ending January 22.

This is a rise of 32% from the 1,752 notifications it received in the week ending January 15.