Weekly Covid deaths of care home residents ‘at highest level since end of April’

Weekly registered deaths of care home residents involving coronavirus have passed 2,000 and are at their highest level since the end of April, new figures show.

There were 2,364 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 in the week ending January 22 in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

This includes residents who died in care homes, hospitals and other settings.

This is up 37.5% from the previous week, and is the highest weekly number since the week ending May 1.

The latest weekly figure is also more than three times the 745 care home resident deaths registered in the week ending December 31.

A total of 33,215 care home residents in England and Wales have now had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate, the ONS said.

Separate Care Quality Commission data shows it was notified of 2,357 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 in the week ending January 29.

This is similar to the 2,366 notifications it received in the week ending January 22.

Overall, there were 8,422 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending January 22 where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

This is up 16.2% from the 7,245 deaths in the week to January 15.

Nearly half (45.1%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 22 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate – the highest proportion recorded during the pandemic.