The number of excess deaths in the UK since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak has passed 63,500, according to the latest data.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 57,961 excess deaths were recorded in England and Wales between 21 March and 29 May.
Covid-19 was responsible for 45,748 of these fatalities, the ONS said.
The remainder – deaths not directly linked to Covid-19 – might have been caused by factors connected with wider changes in England and Wales since the lockdown began: a reluctance on the part of some people to visit a doctor or a hospital, for instance, or the result of long-term health conditions being made worse by having to remain at home.
Last week, the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency put the figure for Northern Ireland at 906 excess deaths over the same period, while the National Records of Scotland found there were 4,729 excess deaths in Scotland between 23 March and 31 May.
Together, this means the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period now stands at 63,596.
The overall number of excess deaths registered per week for England and Wales has fallen from a peak of 11,854 in the week ending 17 April to 1,653 in the week ending 29 May.
Close to 30,000 deaths (64 per cent) involving Covid-19 in the two nations have occurred in hospitals, while a further 13,460 fatalities (29 per cent) were recorded in care homes.
The ONS said the latest weekly death figures showed the numbers were consistently falling, with 2,464 fewer than the previous week, but were still 1,653 deaths higher than the five-year average.
The percentage of deaths involving Covid-19 has continued to decrease or remain similar across all English regions. The northwest had the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the week ending 29 May (282 deaths).
