14 April 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Total number of weekly deaths recorded in England and Wales soars to record high

David Ottewell, our head of data journalism, has been crunching the ONS’s latest figures:

The Covid-19 outbreak has seen the total number of weekly deaths recorded in England and Wales soar to a record high. Some 16,387 deaths from all causes were registered in England and Wales in the week ending 3 April, 2020. That was the highest number since the Office for National Statistics began tracking weekly totals in 2005. It was 6,082 more than the average number of deaths per week seen over the last five years.

Some 3,475 deaths registered during the week to 3 April mentioned “novel Coronavirus (Covid-19)” on the death certificate – 21.2 per cent of all deaths. In London nearly half of all deaths registered during the week (46.6 per cent) mentioned the virus.

The spread of the virus has shown signs of slowing as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 approaches the two million mark globally, Pharmaceutical Technology reports. While the number of deaths was up by 5,391 to 119,482, new cases and new deaths fell for the third consecutive day – although some experts believe that may be due in part to a lower rate of reporting over the Easter weekend.