Coronavirus: Glimmer of hope as total number of UK deaths decline from peak, new figures suggest

There was a slight fall in the total number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 24 April – driven by a decrease in the number of hospital deaths, according to new figures.

In the seven days to 24 April, there were 21,997 deaths registered in England and Wales – 11,539 more than the five-year average, according to the Office for National Statistics.

However, that week saw the first decrease in the weekly total number of registered deaths since 20 March.

The number of deaths registered in the week to 24 April was 354 less compared with the previous week.

Previous figures have shown deaths in Scotland also falling, although rising in Northern Ireland, that week.

This suggests it may be the week the UK came through its peak mortality rate amid the coronavirus crisis.

Of those deaths registered in the week to 24 April, 8,237 mentioned COVID-19, which represents 37.4% of all deaths.

This was a decrease of 521 deaths compared to the previous week.

Deaths occurring in hospitals in England and Wales decreased by 12.6% in the week to 24 April compared to the previous week, from 9,434 to 8,243.

But there was a different picture in care homes, where the number of registered deaths increased by 8.1% from 7,316 deaths to 7,911.

And deaths in private homes increased by 5.8% from 4,570 to 4,834.

The highest number of coronavirus-linked deaths in the week to 24 April were among those over 85, with 3,507 deaths.

But the highest proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 out of all causes was among those aged 75 to 84 (40.2%).

There were 1,406 coronavirus-linked deaths in London in the week to 24 April, which was more than half (50.5%) of all deaths in the capital.

It also meant almost one-fifth (17.1%) of all COVID-19 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 24 April occurred in London.

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The North West and North East also had a high proportion of COVID-19 deaths, accounting for 38.8% and 38%, respectively, of deaths registered in these regions.

In Wales, there were 413 deaths registered in the week to 24 April involving coronavirus, accounting for 36.7% of all deaths registered in the country.

In total this year, up to 24 April, the ONS said there were 27,356 deaths involving COVID-19 registered in England and Wales.

Liz Kendall, Labour’s shadow minister for social care, said: “These figures show that talk of being ‘past the peak’ of this awful virus simply does not hold true for social care.

“Ministers must take urgent action to get to grips with this problem – including getting proper PPE to the frontline, making care workers a top priority for testing and ensuring the NHS does more to support social care services and help keep elderly and disabled people safe.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Glimmer of hope as total number of UK deaths decline from peak, new figures suggest