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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Cathy Owen

The new true death total in Wales and where people have died with coronavirus

The total number of deaths involving coronavirus in Wales has now reached 2,122.

These figures recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are more complete than the daily total reported by Public Health Wales as they include all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate.

The daily figures only list deaths where coronavirus has been confirmed in a lab test.

According to the latest figures from on Tuesday morning, there were 134 deaths involving Covid-19 in the week up to May 22. The virus accounted just under one in five deaths registered that week.

It is the the lowest weekly total since the start of April, and the fourth week in a row that the total has fallen.

But a top doctor at a Welsh hospital has given a warning from the frontline, following a drop in new cases.

Intensive care consultant, Dr David Hepburn, who works at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital says the virus "hasn't gone away" as they have had some new cases.

(WALES NEWS SERVICE)

The number of deaths in care homes in Wales is also falling - it was 44 deaths in the week ending 22 May. This is around a third of all deaths from the virus.

Cardiff still has the highest number of deaths - 341 and Ceredigion the lowest, with seven.

Rhondda Cynon Taf - when population size is taken into account - still has the highest death rate in Wales, 104.5 deaths per 100,000, which is a total of 251 deaths.

Figures this week have show that north Wales health board Betsi Cadwaladr has become the area with the most infections in Wales currently however it has so far seen fewer deaths.

This map shows where the highest density of Covid-19 deaths have been in Wales

Across the UK, the figures show there have been almost 62,000 deaths above what would normally be expected in the UK during the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales fell by almost a third in a week and reached its lowest level for seven weeks.

The UK death toll is the highest in Europe and second highest in the world, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

But there were 56,308 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and May 22, compared with the average number of deaths for that period over five years.

It follows figures last week showing the equivalent numbers for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which, when added together, take the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period to 61,795.

In England and Wales, Covid-19 was responsible for 77% of these excess deaths.

All figures are based on death registrations.

Tuesday's ONS release takes number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK to just under 50,000.

Death registrations in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland show 48,896 deaths in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.


Out of all deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales registered up to May 22 2020, 64% (28,159 deaths) occurred in hospital, the ONS said.

A further 29% (12,739 deaths) took place in care homes, with 5% (1,991) in private homes, 1% (582) in hospices, 0.4% (197) in other communal establishments, and 0.4% (169) elsewhere.

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