Coronavirus linked to nearly 5% of all deaths in England and Wales in one week, new figures show

Coronavirus has been linked to almost 5 per cent of all deaths registered in England and Wales during the week ending 27 March, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

It also said that while the majority of 501 deaths in that week, 93 per cent, happened in hospital, 7 per cent of patients were dying in hospices, care homes and private homes.

The ONS has begun release weekly data on deaths registered in England and Wales where coronavirus was involved. This means where the Covid-19 virus was suspected or mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

The virus may not have been the main cause of death but could have been a contributory factor.

According to the ONS there were 11,141 deaths registered in the week ending the 27 March, 496 deaths more than the previous week.

For deaths that occurred up to 27 March, there were 1,568 deaths in England registered by 1 April involving Covid-19 compared with 1,649 deaths reported by NHS England for the same period.

Of the deaths registered up to 27 March, 539 mentioned coronavirus, 4.8 per cent of all deaths; this compared with 103 or 1 per cent of all deaths in the previous week.

The numbers are lower than the deaths reported by the Department of Health and Social Care, which reported 739 by 27 March, because of delays being registered and reported to the ONS.

A total of 150,047 deaths were registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 27 March 2020, and of these, 647 involved the coronavirus, 0.4 per cent.

When deaths that occurred up to 27 March but were registered by to 1 April are included the number involving Covid-19 was 1,639 or 1.1 per cent.