The South East has overtaken London as the region with the highest weekly number of Covid-19 deaths, figures released today reveal.
Regional data from the Office for National Statistics show there were 966 coronavirus-linked deaths in the last week of April in the South East.
The North West, where 910 coronavirus patients died, also had a higher death toll than London.
It is the first time the capital hasn't seen the highest number of deaths, the figures show.
However, the ONS analysis found London still had the highest proportion of deaths involving the killer virus - with 40.2% of all deaths being Covid-19 related.
A total of 6,035 death certificates issued in England and Wales between April 25 and May 1 mentioned Covid-19 - 33.6% of all registered deaths.
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But across the UK, there has been an overall decrease in the number of cases where Covid-19 is listed on death certificates.
The new figures suggest the UK's overall death toll has now crossed 40,000.
Where Covid-19 deaths happened in the last week of April
North East - 316
North West - 910
Yorkshire and the Humber - 647
East Midlands - 438
West Midlands - 651
East of England - 631
London - 785
South East - 966
South West - 404
Wales - 281
What age groups are worst affected?
The highest proportion of coronavirus deaths was among those aged between 80 and 84, with 36.7% of fatalities linked to the virus.
The largest number of Covid-19 deaths was in those aged 90 years and over, with 1,494 deaths.
For the first time, female deaths in some age groups outnumbered those of men.
The ONS analysis said: "Looking at the year-to date, for most age groups there have been more deaths involving COVID-19 in males than in females.
"The inclusion of Week 18 in the year-to-date has meant that for the first time there were more deaths for females aged 85 years and over (6,780 deaths) than males (6,434)."
It continued: "The largest difference between males and females was in the 75 to 84 years age group where there were 6,625 deaths involving COVID-19 in males and 4,363 in females.
"Looking closer at the age group 85 years and over, one of the reasons why the number of deaths is higher could be because the female population is higher than the male population in this age group."
Where are people dying?
Up to May 1, 22,873 deaths occurred in hospital, with 8,312 in care homes, 1,562 in private homes, 386 in hospices, 142 in "other communal establishments" and 133 elsewhere.
ONS statistician Nick Stripe told the BBC: "Care homes (are) showing the slowest decline, sadly.
"For the first time that I can remember, there were more deaths in total in care homes than there were in hospitals in that week."
The UK Alzheimer's Society expressed concern about the overall death toll in care homes being higher than average for this time of year, as it called for the social care sector to be put "on an equal footing with the NHS".
Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing, said: "70% of care home residents have dementia and we're deeply concerned that this indicates an increase in deaths due to dementia, caused by isolation and reduction in care workers.
"Each of these deaths is a heart-breaking loss to their friends, families and carers which is why the Government must honour their commitment to ensure care homes get testing for all residents and staff and the protective equipment they need."
What occupations have the highest death tolls?
The latest figures come after figures yesterday revealed that security guards, taxi drivers, chefs and care workers are among those most at risk.
Analysis of nearly 2,500 working age victims shows that those classified by ONS as low-skilled workers are paying the heaviest price since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Security guards had the highest rate, with 45.7 deaths per 100,000 following 63 deaths.
Other occupations with high death rates include:
- Taxi drivers and chauffeurs (36.4 deaths per 100,000)
- Bus and coach drivers (26.4 deaths per 100,000)
- Chefs (35.9 deaths per 100,000)
- Care workers and home carers (32.0 deaths per 100,000 males)
- Construction workers (25.9 deaths per 100,000)
- Sales and retail assistants (19.8 deaths per 100,000)
- Process, plant and machine operatives occupations (15.5 deaths per 100,000 males; 242 deaths)
- Sales and customer service occupations (14.3 deaths per 100,000 males; 54 deaths)
- Administrative and secretarial occupations (13.9 deaths per 100,000 males; 66 deaths)
- Healthcare workers (10.2 deaths per 100,000 males and 4.8 deaths per 100,000 females)
