Coronavirus death toll falls in England and Wales for the 10th consecutive week

The number of people dying with coronavirus in England and Wales has fallen for the 10th successive week.

A total of 606 deaths involving Covid-19 were recorded by the Office for National Statistics in the week to June 26.

This takes the ONS’s official death toll to 50,000 since the pandemic began – though the running total across the UK, including the latest hospital deaths, is believed to be in excess of 55,000.

The weekly death toll in England and Wales reported today is down 177 from the 783 registered in the week to June 19. It is the second successive week where the total number of deaths from all causes is below average for the time of year.

The UK-wide weekly death toll from coronavirus was 651. In London, the number of deaths involving covid was 35, down from 50 in the preceding week and 71 a fortnight earlier. The North West was the worst affected region, with 120 deaths.

The total number of deaths from all causes in the seven days to June 26 was 8,979 – 360 fewer than the preceding week and 3.4 per cent (314 deaths) below the five-year average.

For the second week, the number of deaths in care homes and hospitals (103 and 815 fewer respectively) was below average, but the number of deaths in private homes was 745 higher than average. This is a likely consequence of the lockdown and the refusal of many people to seek medical help.

Coronavirus accounted for 6.7 per cent of all deaths in the week in England and Wales.

The ONS said that some of the deaths that have been registered as Covid-19 would have "likely occurred over the duration of the year" but have "occurred earlier because of the coronavirus".

This is because the disease has had a greater impact on the most vulnerable people in the population - for instance, those already suffering from a medical condition - as well as the elderly.

New monthly figures, also published today by the ONS, showed that coronavirus infection rates in the community – in private homes and outside of hospitals and care homes – are higher in NHS and care home staff.

This study, carried out between April 26 and June 27, also found that only 33 per cent of people who tested positive had symptoms of the virus at the time they took the test – highlighting the dangers of asymptomatic transmission.

A total of 1.58 per cent of frontline health and care workers tested positive for Covid-19 via a swab test, compared with 0.27 per cent of people working outside these roles.

The ONS data came as a study suggested that people who suffer mild Covid-19 symptoms may carry protective antibodies for only a matter of weeks, potentially complicating the search for a vaccine.

Researchers in Spain who screened nearly 70,000 people found that 14 per cent who were positive for antibodies in a first round of testing gave a negative result two months later.

The apparent disappearance of antibodies was mostly seen in those who had very mild symptoms or who had been asymptomatic.

Professor Ian Jones, of the University of Reading, said: "Anyone who tests positive by antibody test should not assume they are protected. They may be, but it is not clear.”

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