Covid deaths rise but still only five per cent of first wave peak
Weekly coronavirus-related deaths have risen to the highest level since the start of July, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In total, 438 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending 9 October with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate, ONS figures released today showed.
The number marks a 36 per cent increase on the previous week, when 321 coronavirus-related deaths were registered.
It also marks the highest weekly death rate since 3 July, when 532 people died having tested positive for coronavirus up to 28 days previously.
However, the highest recorded number of deaths in a week during the first wave of the virus was 8,758, meaning last week’s death figures represent just five per cent of the worst of the year so far.
It comes as the government scrambles to enforce new restrictions across the country in a bid to curb a sharp spike in infections.
Health secretary Matt Hancock last night warned that Nottinghamshire, Teesside and large swathes of Yorkshire could join areas such as Liverpool under Tier 3 restrictions.
Hancock told MPs the government will hold further discussions with Northern leaders this week over plans to shift to the highest alert level under the three-tier system.
“Weekly deaths in Europe have increased by 33 per cent and here in the UK deaths have tragically doubled in the last 12 days. The situation remains perilous,” said the health secretary.
It comes as the government hurtles towards a midday deadline for agreeing a deal with Manchester over whether to place the city under Tier 3 restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will have “no option” but to enforce the lockdown measures on nearly 3m people in the city if Manchester mayor Andy Burnham refuses the proposed plea bargain, thought to be around the £75m mark.
It comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in London hit 73,497 yesterday, with Barnet and Ealing remaining the capital’s worst-affected boroughs.
London was over the weekend moved from “medium” alert to “high” alert, with fresh measures rolled out across the capital including a ban on household mixing to slow the spread of the virus.