Covid-19 deaths fall across every age group, new figures reveal

Deaths from Covid-19 have fallen for the first time in almost every age group, with a 29 per cent overall drop in one week, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

The figures for England and Wales show 1,080 deaths from Covid in the week ending June 12, down from 1,503 the previous week.

For the first time, every age group saw no rise in deaths. Falls were seen in every bracket, except in groups which had already seen zero or one deaths, where numbers stayed constant.

There were 277 deaths from Covid among those over the age of 90, down from 404 the previous week.

In total, the excess death toll in the UK has passed 65,000, the figures show.

Overall deaths from all causes remain higher than average for this time of year - six per cent higher than the five-year average.

Experts have said this is fuelled by the lack of treatment for other conditions, especially during the peak of the pandemic.

Regional spikes in excess deaths

Highest excess death rates are seen in the East Midlands, where they are 18.2 per cent above the five year average,while they are 12.1 percent higher in the West Midlands, and 9.7 per cent higher in the North West.

Those in London are close to average -just 0.6 per cent higher than the five  year average.

And rates in Wales and the North East are slightly lower than would be expected at this time of year.

Across the UK, 65,499 excess deaths (above the five year average) have now been recorded between March 7 and June 12.

The total number of deaths that have been officially linked to Covid-19 across the UK has now reached 53,325.

It includes deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate up to June 12 across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as 317 extra deaths reported in hospitals in England since that date.

The number of excess deaths (above the five year average) rose slightly in two regions of the UK - London and the East Midlands - in the week to June 12 compared with the previous week.

It was despite the number of Covid deaths in London falling below 100 for the first time since the week before lockdown, with 71 deaths.

Deaths occurring in hospitals in England and Wales have now been at below average levels for a month, but problems remain in the community, with the death toll in people's homes remaining stubbornly high.

923 excess deaths occurred in people's homes in the week to June 12, with 16,797 deaths above normal levels since March 7.

That compares to little over 15,000 excess deaths in hospitals in England and Wales in the same period, as deaths have been displaced into the community.

A quarter of deaths linked to dementia

Further analysis published on Tuesday by the ONS revealed one in four Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales between March and May were linked to dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

More than 11,000 people who had been diagnosed with a form of dementia died with Covid-19 in those three months - more than 25 per cent of all Covid related deaths.

More than 4,600 deaths were among those with ischaemic heart disease (one in ten of all deaths), while more than 4,200 (nine per cent of all deaths) involved no pre-existing conditions.

A similar number of people who died with Covid-19 had influenza or pneumonia (4,239).