Coronavirus: Deaths rise for third week in a row in England and Wales

Weekly figure up in all but one English region

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in England and Wales has risen for the third week in a row, the latest official figures show.

A total of 215 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were recorded in the week to 25 September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

The latest release shows the number of deaths rose by more than half the previous week's figure of 139.

The increase of 76 on the previous week is also nearly twice that of the week before, when cases rose by 40.

Professor David Spiegelhalter, an expert in public understanding of risk at Cambridge University, highlighted the rise in deaths at home, which rose by nearly 30 per cent in the latest week.

“The latest data confirms that Covid deaths in the UK were doubling around every two weeks in September, although are still only comprised 2 per cent of deaths in the country," Prof Spiegelhalter said.

“Crucially, there is still absolutely no sign of any reduction in the 30 per cent increase in deaths occurring at home – if this is to be a long-term feature of deaths in this country, we need to be confident that appropriate end-of-life care is being made available.”

The week to 25 September saw more deaths in all but one region of England, the East midlands, where the weekly total fell from 14 to 11.  

The number of related deaths in care homes was 1,931, up from 1,919 in the week to 18 September.

The latest figures bring the total number of Covid related deaths in the whole of the UK to 58,101, with 52,943 of those in England and Wales.