Coronavirus: Almost 40,000 deaths with COVID-19 in England and Wales, ONS says

The number of people who have died with coronavirus in England and Wales, up to 8 May, was almost 40,000 – but figures showed those dying with the virus fell by more than a third in that week.

A total of 39,071 deaths were registered mentioning “novel coronavirus” in the two nations since the pandemic started up to that date, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

In the seven days to 8 May, coronavirus-related deaths fell by more than a third to 3,930, making up 31.1% of all registered deaths that week.

The latest weekly figures represent a drop of 2,105 (34.8%) from the previous week, when 6,035 deaths were registered.

The ONS said the early May bank holiday had affected the number of death registrations from all causes, with only 88 deaths registered on 8 May compared with 2,950 the previous Friday.

The figures also show that 121,002 deaths were registered in England and Wales between 21 March and 8 May 2020.

This was 49,575 more deaths than the average for this period in the previous five years.

COVID-19 was responsible for 37,187 (75%) of these excess deaths.

Care home deaths

Deaths related to coronavirus in care homes fell for the second week running to 1,666 in that week, from 2,423 deaths in the previous seven days – a decrease of 31%.

The number of deaths from all causes for the week up to 8 May decreased from 6,409 to 4,248.

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However, when looking at how many COVID-19 deaths there were compared to non-coronavirus, the COVID-19 deaths made up a higher percentage in care homes that week, rising to 39.2% compared with 37.8% the week before.

And the proportion of those dying with coronavirus in care homes compared with deaths in all settings rose to 42.4% in the week ending 8 May, with 40% the previous week.

The number of people who have died with COVID-19 in care homes since the virus took hold has now surpassed 10,000, the data showed.

Health secretary Matt Hancock, replying to an urgent question from Labour on care homes, said: “Today’s figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of deaths in care homes has fallen significantly, down by a third in just the last week – from 2,423 to 1,666.

“This morning’s statistics confirm that 27% of coronavirus deaths in England have taken place in care homes, which compares to a European average of around half.

“But whatever the figures say we will not rest from doing whatever is humanly possible to protect our care homes from this appalling virus to make sure residents and care colleagues have the safety and security they deserve.”

Hospital deaths

Those dying with COVID-19 in hospitals continued to decrease, with 50.5% of all people dying with the virus doing so in hospital in the week ending 8 May.

A department of health and social care spokeswoman said: “Every death from this virus is a tragedy and our deepest sympathies go out to the families who have sadly lost relatives.

“Supporting the social care sector throughout this pandemic is a priority. We are working around the clock to give the social care sector the equipment and support they need.

”We are ensuring millions of items of PPE are available to care workers, using our increased testing capacity to test care home residents and staff regardless of symptoms and introducing our new £600m Infection Control Fund to help prevent the spread in care homes.”

As the new numbers were released, care home bosses were appearing before MPs to update them on how homes and their staff are coping with the pandemic after the prime minister admitted there had been “an appalling epidemic in care homes”.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England which represents care home providers in England, told MPs he thinks there will be a downward trend in care home coronavirus cases from now on.

He said testing is improving but people are finding their “tests aren’t arriving on time or indeed being taken away on time”, with “significant delays” of eight to 10 days before people receive results.

Prof Green called for more regular testing in care homes and said as “so often” with government announcements, “there’s a time delay before delivery” – adding that track and trace could be a “game changer”.

And he accused the government of focusing on the NHS rather than care homes at the start of the pandemic, while criticising the discharge of patients from hospitals to care homes.

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(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Almost 40,000 deaths with COVID-19 in England and Wales, ONS says