The number of registered deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has almost doubled in a week, following delayed registrations over the Christmas period, new figures have shown. The sobering news comes as the UK now has the highest covid death rate in the world.
There were 17,751 deaths from all causes registered in the week ending January 8 – a “sharp increase” from the previous seven days, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Of these, 6,057 mentioned “novel coronavirus” on the death certificate – up 92.7% from the previous week.
The ONS said the figures should be interpreted with caution as the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day bank holidays will have affected numbers previously registered.
The ONS also produced the first weekly dataset on the registered deaths of care home residents, including deaths that occurred in the care home but also elsewhere.
It found that 1,370 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 were registered in the week ending January 8.
Deaths involving the virus of residents in care homes, as notified to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), have almost doubled in a fortnight.
There were 1,260 deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes notified to the CQC in the week ending January 15, a 45% rise from the 864 deaths notified during the previous week.
And it is almost double the 661 deaths notified to the regulator in the week ending January 1.
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