Covid-19 is no longer the main cause of death in England and Wales.
According to official figures released accounting for the month of March, coronavirus was not the leading cause of death.
Data for March shows the virus was the third leading cause of death in England and Wales.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that Covid accounted for 9.2% of all deaths registered in England and 6.3% in Wales.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show Covid was previously the leading cause of death each month from November to February.
According to ONS figures, the leading cause of death in England in March was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 10.1% of all deaths registered that month.
In Wales, it was ischaemic heart disease which made up 11.8% of all fatalities that month.
The data comes a day after the government said a further 22 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,327.
Figures published separately by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
It comes on the same day as health secretary Matt Hancock said the number of patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus had dropped to the lowest level since September.
Mr Hancock tweeted to say the figure stood at under 2,000 - a stark contrast to the 37,475 people in hospital with coronavirus on January 18.
Elsewhere in the world, India has reported a global record of more than 314,000 new coronavirus infections as a surge in the world’s second most populous country sends more people into a fragile health care system critically short of hospital beds and oxygen.
Concerns have been raised this week over a new variant of coronavirus which is said to have originated in India.
The country has since been placed on the ‘red list’ for travel with Mr Hancock confirming earlier in the week 103 cases of the India variant has been found in the UK.
However, the positive data from the ONS comes as the UK moves towards the next phase of its roadmap out of lockdown.
