The number of deaths involving coronavirus in the UK has passed 47,000, according to the latest available data from the Office for National Statistics as the weekly numbers in every region in England and Wales are falling.
The total includes new figures published on Tuesday by the ONS extrapolated from death certificates, which record cause of death, which are at their lowest levels in six weeks.
There were 4,210 UK deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the week ending May 15, according to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is the lowest weekly total since the week ending April 3, when 3,801 Covid-19-related deaths were registered.
The ONS figures show that 42,173 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in England and Wales up to May 15 (and had been registered up to May 23).
The latest figures from the National Records of Scotland, published last week, showed 3,546 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to May 17.
And the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, also published last week, showed 664 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Northern Ireland up to May 20.
Together these figures mean that so far 46,383 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.
In the North West, the number of deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate fell from 652 the previous week to 447 the week ending May 15, a fall of 205.
The total number of deaths in the region mentioning coronavirus now stands at 6,224, the second highest behind London.
The capital also saw a fall in the number of deaths mentioning Covid-19 on the death certificate down from 281 to 213. The overall number of deaths in London stands at 7,684.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, this trend continued with deaths mentioning the virus falling from 453 the previous week to 307, a total of 3,646.
And the number of excess deaths in the UK since the coronavirus outbreak began now stands at nearly 60,000, with coronavirus being responsible for 76 per cent of these excess deaths.
Today's figures from the Office for National Statistics, showing 53,960 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and May 15 2020, follow figures last week showing the equivalent numbers for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The National Records of Scotland found there were 4,434 excess deaths in Scotland between March 23 and May 17, while the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency put the figure for Northern Ireland at 834 excess deaths between March 21 and May 15.
Together, this means the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period now stands at 59,228.
All figures are based on death registrations.
But the total number of deaths from all causes rose by 1,916 to 14,573 – with an increase being registered after a dip during the early May bank holiday.
The ONS said trends over these two weeks “should therefore be interpreted with caution”.
For the first time, deaths in care homes accounted for more than half of the total number of deaths with Covid-19.
On May 9 there were 214 deaths in care homes – 51 per cent of the total, while 191 (46 per cent) took place in hospitals.
A further 964 hospital patients in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between May 16 and May 24, according to figures published on Monday by NHS England – which, together with the total figure of 46,383 registered deaths, indicates the overall death toll for the UK is now just over 47,300.
The latest figures show of the Covid-19 deaths registered up to May 15, 26,817 (65. 1 per cent) occurred in hospital with 11,650 in care homes, 1,876 in private homes and 524 in hospices.
The elderly continue to be disproportionately affected by Covid-19 with 2,076 of the deaths last week being people who were over 85, 1,271 who were 75 to 84, 535 who were 65 to 74, 292 who were 45 to 64, 35 who were 15 to 44 and a baby under one year old.
There were no deaths involving children aged one to 14.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 135,575 deaths were registered in England and Wales between March 21 and May 15 2020 - this was 53,960 more deaths than the average for this period in the previous five years and coronavirus was responsible for 76 per cent of these excess deaths.
The ONS said it is continuing to investigate the number of non-Covid-19-related deaths and will publish detailed analysis on this in the future.
The ONS figures are 32 per cent higher than the Department of Health's daily total for the same period, which had recorded 31,944 deaths of people who had tested positive.
This is because the figures include all mentions of Covid-19 on a death certificate, including suspected Covid-19, and are based on the date that deaths occurred.
The Department of Health figures are based on when deaths were reported, and are for deaths where a person has tested positive for Covid-19.
