Deaths from Covid-19 declined again across the city region in the week before Christmas, new figures have shown.
Just 29 people died of Covid-19 during the week up to December 25, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday (January 6), down from 39 in the previous week.
This was the eighth week in a row to see a fall in the weekly death toll and the lowest weekly total since the end of September.
However, the sudden spike in cases of Covid-19 since Christmas means this trend is unlikely to continue into the new year and deaths could start to rise significantly towards the end of January.
The week before Christmas also saw Wirral pass 600 Covid-19 deaths while St Helens’ pandemic death toll passed 300.
The ONS figures record all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate, meaning the virus was either the primary cause of death or a contributing factor.
Most boroughs in the Liverpool City Region saw deaths decline during the week before Christmas.
Halton and Knowsley recorded only one death from Covid-19 during the week, down from two and three respectively in the previous week.
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St Helens recorded three deaths, down from six, while Liverpool itself recorded eight, down from 18 during the previous week.
However, both Sefton and Wirral saw their weekly death tolls rise in the run-up to Christmas.
Both boroughs had recorded five deaths in the previous week, but Sefton’s total rose to seven and Wirral’s reached nine, including three deaths in care homes.
The additional deaths in Sefton now mean that one in every 500 people in the borough has died of Covid-19.
In total, 2,892 people across the city region have died of Covid-19 - 15.7% of all deaths during 2020.
