Weekly deaths linked to coronavirus have risen in England and Wales for the sixth week in a row – with a jump of 53% on last week, according to the Office for National Statistics.
A total of 670 deaths were registered in the week ending 16 October with COVID-19 mentioned on the death certificate – compared with 438 the week before.
It is the highest number of registered deaths involving coronavirus since the week ending 19 June.
Registered deaths involving coronavirus increased week-on-week in every region of England in the week to 16 October.
The North West had 229 COVID-19 deaths – the highest number for the region since the week ending 5 June, according to the ONS.
The North East saw 93 deaths, also the highest since the week to 5 June. In Yorkshire and the Humber, 87 deaths were registered, the highest since the week to 19 June.
In Wales, the number of deaths involving COVID-19 increased from 37 deaths the previous week to 47 deaths in the week ending 16 October.
About one in eight (12%) of the 4,346 registered hospital deaths in England and Wales in the week ending 16 October involved coronavirus.
In total more than 61,000 deaths involving COVID-19 have now occurred in the UK, figures show.
A total of 59,927 deaths have so far been registered in the UK where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases, according to the latest reports from the UK’s statistics agencies.
This includes 54,609 deaths in England and Wales up in the week up to 16 October (and registered up to 24 October), which were confirmed by the ONS on Tuesday.
Since these statistics were compiled, a further 1,044 deaths are known to have occurred in England, plus 36 in Scotland, 62 in Wales and 47 in Northern Ireland, according to additional data published on the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
Together, these totals mean that so far 61,116 deaths involving COVID-19 have taken place in the UK.
Of the total deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales, 34,709 deaths (63.9%) occurred in hospitals, followed by care homes with 15,819 and private homes with 2,594.
On Monday the government said a further 102 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus, while there were a further 20,890 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.