UK Covid deaths at lowest level since September 2020, new figures show

Zero Covid-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday

People dine outdoors on Old Compton Street in Soho on 31 May (Getty Images)

The proportion of deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales is at its lowest level for more than eight months, as the debate over completely ending restrictions continues.

There were 9,860 deaths from all causes registered in the week ending May 21, figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Of these, 107 deaths (1.1%) list coronavirus on the death certificate, which is the lowest proportion since the week ending September 11 when the virus accounted for 1.0% of deaths.

At the peak of the second wave, in the week ending January 29, Covid-19 accounted for 45.7% of registered deaths.

Government figures, based on people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, show that zero Covid-19 deaths were reported in the UK on Tuesday.

The analysis of ONS figures compiled by PA was released amid an ongoing debate if England can go ahead and unlock all restrictions on June 21 due to concerns about the Indian Covid variant.

Scientists are increasingly wary of a third wave of the virus due to the new variant, named Delta by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

On Tuesday Professor Ravi Gupta, a microbiologist, suggested that 21 June was a “bit early” to unlock everything and urged a delay of at least a few weeks.

“I think we need at least a few weeks - probably a month until schools have closed, when the risk of transmission within schools falls during summer holidays,” he told Sky News.

However Boris Johnson is under increasing political pressure from his own party to get England back to normal, despite Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hitting the stop button on plans to ease restrictions up north.

Tory Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the influential 1922 committee , said the vaccines were effective against all the variant so far identified.

“This should give us the self-confidence to continue our progress towards normality with the final step on June 21 and scrap all social distancing measures,” he told The Telegraph.

Downing Street has indicated that Boris Johnson still sees nothing in the data to suggest the plan will need to be delayed.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions that we haven’t seen anything in the data but we will continue to look at the data, we will continue to look at the latest scientific evidence as we move through June towards June 21.”

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that current figures “don’t look too intimidating” but they still need to “play out for a couple of weeks” before the Government makes its final decision on whether the June 21 reopening can go ahead.

He said: “I think the gain now is, can we get more people vaccinated down into younger, younger age groups to try and stop more transmission.”

Additional reporting by PA