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Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales lowest since mid-September

Deaths have now been below the five-year average for eight successive weeks.

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Fran Hall, who lost her husband to coronavirus, takes part in the final stages of painting approximately 150,000 hearts on the Covid memorial wall on the Embankment in London (Victoria Jones/PA)

Deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest level since mid-September, new figures show.

A total of 205 deaths registered in the week ending April 30 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – the lowest number since the week ending September 18.

The figure is also down 21% on the previous week.

The total number of deaths registered in England and Wales was below the five-year average for the eighth consecutive week, the ONS said.

(PA Graphics)
(PA Graphics)

Some 9,692 deaths were registered in the week to April 30, 7.3% below the average for the corresponding period in 2015-19.

Before the eight most recent weeks, the last time deaths were below average was in the week to September 4 2020.

The latest figures are further evidence of the combined success of lockdown restrictions and the vaccine rollout in driving down the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths.

Fresh analysis published on Monday by Public Health England showed for the first time that people who receive a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine have approximately 80% lower risk of death with Covid-19 compared with unvaccinated individuals.

(PA Graphics)
(PA Graphics)

It also suggested protection against death from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine rises from approximately 80% after one dose to 97% after two doses.

A total of 152,704 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 1,477 on January 19.

During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on April 8 2020.

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