Weekly coronavirus deaths registered in England and Wales are at their highest level since mid-May, figures show.
There were 109 deaths registered in the week ending July 2nd where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
This is up 10 per cent from the 99 deaths involving coronavirus registered during the previous seven days.
And it is the highest number since the week ending May 14th, when 151 deaths involving coronavirus were registered.
The number of deaths has been fluctuating at about 100 for the last few weeks, and it is too early to say whether the latest rise marks the start of an upwards trend.
England is due to enter Step 4 of the UK government’s road map out of coronavirus restrictions next Monday.
It will see the scrapping of most remaining restrictions, including the legal requirement to wear a face mask, social distancing and limits on how many people can gather.
The government has acknowledged that there will be more cases, hospital admissions and deaths as the country moves into the next step.
The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 2 July 2021 (Week 26) was 8,808. This was
▪ 118 more than Week 25
▪️ 485 fewer than the five-year average for Week 26
➡️ https://t.co/lwD5C0fjoT pic.twitter.com/KK6KaUaxPM— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 13, 2021
The ONS figures also show that care home resident deaths involving coronavirus are up slightly from the previous week.
Some 11 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in the week to July 2nd, up from 10 deaths in the previous seven days.
In total, 42,567 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.
Over a quarter of people identified as clinically extremely vulnerable to #COVID19 have continued to shield, despite official shielding guidance being paused on 1 April 2021 https://t.co/XFOctYLcXu pic.twitter.com/3KrX7cVjOF
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 13, 2021
The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.
Overall, 154,099 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.
The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,481 on January 19th.
