England and Wales coronavirus death toll nears 50,000
Coronavirus deaths in England and Wales have hit 47,387 since the start of the year until 5 June, official data confirmed today.
That contrasts with official government data yesterday that puts the overall UK death toll from coronavirus at 41,736.
While England’s coronavirus death toll stood at 45,432 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the Department for Health’s number totalled 36,127 for the same period.
The ONS said England and Wales’ overall death toll in the week to 5 June was 10,709. That is 885 higher than the previous week and 7.3 per cent higher than a five-year deaths average. Statisticians put this down to the late May bank holiday the previous week.
However, the countries reported their lowest total of Covid-19 deaths in the last nine weeks, at 1,588.
The proportion of coronavirus deaths happening in care homes fell to 22.6 per cent of England and Wales’ total in the latest week. And care homes reported a fall in the proportion of deaths from coronavirus to 23.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, London’s number of deaths fell below the five-year average in the week to 5 June. The North West reported the highest number of Covid-19 fatalities at 250, but all English regions saw their number of Covid-19 deaths fall.
More to follow.