The number of people dying of the coronavirus is now falling in every age group for the first time since the start of Britain’s crisis, official statistics revealed today.
In the week ending June 12, 865 people died with Covid-19 in England and Wales — the lowest weekly number in three months, since the seven-day spell that finished on March 20 (401).
It was also the first time the number of fatalities dropped below 1,000 since the outbreak spiralled out of control in the spring, according to the report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The total number of deaths continues to creep up, however, with more than 53,000 coronavirus deaths confirmed by June 12 and excess deaths — those of any cause that happen above average — rising to more than 65,000.
ONS data shows the weekly registrations of coronavirus deaths did not increase in any age groups in the week to June 12. It was stagnant among 25 to 29-year-olds but fell in all other brackets.
The biggest drop was among the over-90s, who have been hardest hit by the virus. The most recent week of data saw 127 fewer deaths than the week before, and there were 94 fewer victims in their late 80s.
Today’s data — which includes all suspected deaths, not just lab-confirmed ones counted by the Department of Health — adds to an array of figures showing the virus is retreating in the UK.
Statistics show at least 53,738 people had been killed by the coronavirus across the UK by June 12 — 11,000 more than the Department of Health has counted. And in May the virus killed people at twice the rate of any other disease, including dementia.
Data published today shows that the number of people dying with the coronavirus appears to have stopped rising among people of all ages.
This is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that it’s happened, the ONS said in its report.
The most recent statistics, for the week between June 6 and June 12, showed that 1,114 deaths were registered then, down from 1,588 the week before.
While the number of deaths being recorded stayed still for some younger age groups, among whom there were one or zero deaths, it fell in all groups over the age of 29, which accounted for all but one of the fatalities (99.9 per cent).
The biggest proportional fall was among 65 to 69-year-olds, where deaths fell by 46 per cent in a week.
Fatalities dropped by 40 per cent in 35 to 39-year-olds, by 36 per cent among 50 to 54-year-olds and 34 per cent in those aged 55 to 59.
The biggest reduction in number was in over-90s, who are the worst affected by the disease. There was a drop of 127 deaths week-on-week among them – from 404 to 277.
Today’s data also shows that the number of people dying each week has fallen to a 12-week low.
Looking at the actual dates on which people died – a different measure to when the deaths were registered – there were 865 fatalities in the week to June 12.
This was below 1,000 for the first time since March 20 – before lockdown – when 401 people died.
It was the lowest figure for 12 weeks and a 32 per cent drop from 1,276 the week before.
The ONS also shows that 48,866 people had been killed by the coronavirus by mid-June in England and Wales alone.
Combined with data from National Records Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, this puts the UK death toll at 53,738.
The number is 11,000 higher than the 42,647 recorded by the Department of Health because it includes everyone who has the virus mentioned on their death certificate, regardless of whether they have been tested.
The downside to the ONS number is that it has to be done over a longer period of time so it’s 10 days behind the present day.
Another measure of deaths caused by the pandemic, excess deaths, now sits at 65,173 across Britain.
This measures the number of deaths above average for the year so far, and may include people who didn’t actually catch Covid-19 but died because they could not – or would not – go to hospital, for example.
The number of excess deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending June 12 was 559, according the ONS.
That was the lowest number since the week ending March 20.
In the week ending June 12 the number of deaths in hospitals was below average, marking the second week in a row there had been no excess deaths in hospitals.
There were still excess deaths registered in both care homes and private homes during this week, although the number was down on the previous seven days.
The difficulty of measuring excess deaths is that it is not clear how many of them can be directly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
For some patients the epidemic – and the fact they have missed out on treatment – may have delayed their death if they would have died from an infection caught in hospital, such as MRSA or pneumonia.
Office for National Statistics data shows that the coronavirus was twice as deadly as any other disease in May.
Covid-19 killed 210.3 people per 100,000 in that month.
By comparison, dementia accounted for 111.4 per 100,000 deaths – but this was above average (103.3) and may have been affected by undiagnosed coronavirus in care homes.
Heart disease caused death at a rate of 71.5 per 100,000, down from its average 98.1.
And strokes (cerebrovascular disease) killed 43.9 people per 100,000 in May, down from the average 55.4.
Experts have suggested deaths from other causes may have reduced either because the same patients caught coronavirus and died with it, or because they put off going to hospital and their death was delayed.
Birmingham | 1,187 | Dartford | 108 |
County Durham | 680 | Slough | 107 |
Leeds | 673 | South Derbyshire | 107 |
Liverpool | 558 | Lewes | 107 |
Sheffield | 550 | Winchester | 107 |
Cheshire East | 498 | Chorley | 107 |
Croydon | 484 | Welwyn Hatfield | 107 |
Brent | 483 | Hartlepool | 106 |
Bradford | 472 | Colchester | 106 |
Barnet | 449 | Wychavon | 105 |
Wirral | 416 | Portsmouth | 104 |
Ealing | 402 | Tewkesbury | 104 |
Harrow | 392 | Elmbridge | 104 |
Manchester | 383 | Mole Valley | 104 |
Enfield | 382 | Neath Port Talbot | 103 |
Buckinghamshire | 381 | Dover | 102 |
Walsall | 371 | North Lincolnshire | 100 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 365 | Eastleigh | 98 |
Cardiff | 362 | East Hertfordshire | 98 |
Sandwell | 355 | Telford and Wrekin | 97 |
Wiltshire | 354 | High Peak | 97 |
Stockport | 343 | Fareham | 97 |
Sunderland | 334 | Warwick | 97 |
Wigan | 333 | North Hertfordshire | 96 |
Bromley | 332 | Broxtowe | 96 |
Wakefield | 331 | Sevenoaks | 95 |
Bolton | 311 | Vale of Glamorgan | 95 |
Redbridge | 310 | Peterborough | 94 |
Salford | 308 | East Northamptonshire | 94 |
Hillingdon | 308 | South Staffordshire | 94 |
Kirklees | 304 | Amber Valley | 92 |
Newham | 304 | Stroud | 92 |
Rotherham | 303 | Kettering | 91 |
Wolverhampton | 303 | Denbighshire | 91 |
Dudley | 299 | Powys | 91 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 293 | Bath and North East Somerset | 90 |
Derby | 292 | Hinckley and Bosworth | 90 |
Lewisham | 289 | Plymouth | 89 |
Rhondda Cynon Taf | 288 | Breckland | 89 |
Lambeth | 282 | Guildford | 89 |
Coventry | 281 | Blackburn with Darwen | 88 |
Sefton | 278 | Erewash | 88 |
Havering | 272 | Bridgend | 88 |
Leicester | 271 | Three Rivers | 87 |
Solihull | 270 | Surrey Heath | 87 |
Northumberland | 268 | Tandridge | 87 |
Haringey | 264 | Fylde | 86 |
Tameside | 260 | South Ribble | 86 |
Central Bedfordshire | 255 | Spelthorne | 86 |
Oldham | 248 | Darlington | 84 |
Northampton | 246 | Brentwood | 83 |
Southwark | 246 | Rochford | 83 |
Waltham Forest | 246 | Gravesham | 83 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 242 | Chesterfield | 82 |
Bristol, City of | 238 | East Hampshire | 82 |
Shropshire | 235 | Conwy | 82 |
Gateshead | 232 | Carmarthenshire | 82 |
Barnsley | 231 | Castle Point | 81 |
Bury | 228 | Cambridge | 80 |
Doncaster | 226 | Rushmoor | 80 |
Hounslow | 225 | Epsom and Ewell | 80 |
Trafford | 224 | Isle of Wight | 79 |
Warrington | 223 | Rushcliffe | 79 |
Greenwich | 223 | Chichester | 78 |
Hackney | 221 | Fenland | 77 |
Nottingham | 220 | Scarborough | 77 |
Bexley | 220 | Worthing | 77 |
East Suffolk | 214 | Barrow-in-Furness | 75 |
Wandsworth | 212 | Newark and Sherwood | 75 |
Rochdale | 209 | Cannock Chase | 75 |
Cornwall | 203 | North Warwickshire | 75 |
Luton | 202 | Crawley | 75 |
Middlesbrough | 201 | Derbyshire Dales | 74 |
Merton | 200 | Broxbourne | 74 |
Swansea | 200 | Mid Suffolk | 74 |
Kingston upon Hull, City of | 194 | Pendle | 73 |
Milton Keynes | 194 | Oxford | 73 |
Basildon | 193 | Monmouthshire | 73 |
St. Helens | 193 | Blaby | 72 |
Tower Hamlets | 186 | Rugby | 72 |
Medway | 184 | West Suffolk | 72 |
Westminster | 184 | Harlow | 71 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 182 | Woking | 71 |
Southend-on-Sea | 181 | Wrexham | 71 |
Stoke-on-Trent | 180 | Tonbridge and Malling | 70 |
Epping Forest | 180 | Broadland | 70 |
Sutton | 176 | Daventry | 70 |
Hertsmere | 175 | Tunbridge Wells | 68 |
Reigate and Banstead | 175 | Bracknell Forest | 67 |
Harrogate | 174 | Lancaster | 67 |
South Gloucestershire | 167 | Sedgemoor | 67 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 167 | Runnymede | 67 |
Swindon | 164 | Arun | 66 |
Reading | 164 | Gwynedd | 66 |
Stratford-on-Avon | 164 | Torfaen | 66 |
Southampton | 163 | Allerdale | 65 |
Barking and Dagenham | 163 | Eastbourne | 65 |
Tendring | 161 | Wellingborough | 65 |
York | 160 | Mansfield | 65 |
Dorset | 160 | Staffordshire Moorlands | 65 |
Mid Sussex | 160 | Merthyr Tydfil | 65 |
Newport | 160 | South Kesteven | 64 |
Camden | 159 | Craven | 64 |
South Tyneside | 157 | Bassetlaw | 64 |
Bedford | 152 | Hambleton | 63 |
Brighton and Hove | 150 | Blaenau Gwent | 63 |
South Lakeland | 149 | Uttlesford | 62 |
North Tyneside | 149 | North West Leicestershire | 62 |
East Staffordshire | 148 | Worcester | 61 |
Islington | 148 | Tamworth | 60 |
Wokingham | 147 | South Cambridgeshire | 59 |
Richmond upon Thames | 146 | Babergh | 59 |
Gloucester | 144 | Torbay | 58 |
Chelmsford | 143 | Cotswold | 58 |
Thanet | 140 | Burnley | 58 |
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | 140 | Copeland | 57 |
Ashfield | 140 | Hyndburn | 57 |
Knowsley | 140 | Harborough | 57 |
Stockton-on-Tees | 137 | Stevenage | 57 |
North East Derbyshire | 137 | Oadby and Wigston | 56 |
Waverley | 136 | South Norfolk | 56 |
Thurrock | 135 | Gosport | 55 |
North Somerset | 134 | South Somerset | 55 |
Nuneaton and Bedworth | 134 | Redditch | 55 |
Cheltenham | 132 | Bolsover | 54 |
Bromsgrove | 132 | Rossendale | 52 |
West Berkshire | 131 | South Holland | 52 |
Blackpool | 129 | South Northamptonshire | 52 |
Kingston upon Thames | 129 | North Norfolk | 51 |
Redcar and Cleveland | 128 | Rother | 50 |
Caerphilly | 128 | East Cambridgeshire | 49 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | 127 | Hart | 48 |
New Forest | 127 | East Lindsey | 48 |
Newcastle-under-Lyme | 127 | Corby | 48 |
Carlisle | 124 | East Devon | 47 |
Preston | 123 | Richmondshire | 47 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 123 | Malvern Hills | 47 |
Halton | 121 | Forest of Dean | 45 |
Ipswich | 121 | Great Yarmouth | 45 |
Herefordshire, County of | 120 | Somerset West and Taunton | 45 |
Vale of White Horse | 120 | North Kesteven | 43 |
St Albans | 120 | Selby | 43 |
Huntingdonshire | 119 | Pembrokeshire | 40 |
Ashford | 119 | Eden | 39 |
Flintshire | 119 | Exeter | 39 |
Dacorum | 118 | Adur | 39 |
Canterbury | 117 | North East Lincolnshire | 34 |
Watford | 116 | Boston | 34 |
Swale | 115 | Teignbridge | 33 |
Gedling | 115 | Maldon | 32 |
West Oxfordshire | 115 | Ryedale | 30 |
Braintree | 114 | Isle of Anglesey | 30 |
Basingstoke and Deane | 114 | Melton | 28 |
Charnwood | 114 | Mendip | 28 |
Cherwell | 114 | North Devon | 26 |
Horsham | 114 | Lincoln | 26 |
Wyre Forest | 114 | Ribble Valley | 23 |
Folkestone and Hythe | 113 | West Lindsey | 23 |
South Oxfordshire | 113 | Norwich | 23 |
Test Valley | 112 | Rutland | 22 |
Stafford | 112 | Torridge | 20 |
Maidstone | 111 | Mid Devon | 17 |
West Lancashire | 111 | West Devon | 15 |
Lichfield | 111 | South Hams | 12 |
Calderdale | 111 | Hastings | 9 |
Wyre | 109 | Ceredigion | 7 |
Wealden | 108 | City of London | 4 |
Havant | 108 | Isles of Scilly | 0 |