Four out of ten deaths during England and Wales' deadliest week were linked to coronavirus, heartbreaking new figures show - with men dying in greater numbers.
Between April 11 and 17, which included Easter Sunday, a record 22,351 people died - with 8,758 of them confirmed to have contracted Covid-19.
Two girls under 15 were among the dead, while almost 40% of coronavirus victims were aged 85 or over, today's data reveals.
London, the North West and South East each lost more than 1,000 people, while there were 999 deaths in the West Midlands.
It is the largest weekly death toll since comparable records began in 1993, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this morning.
By the end of the week, the number killed by coronavirus was more than 7,000 higher than previously announced in daily figures - an increase of 35%.
It brings the overall coronavirus death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic to 24,243, according to available data.
Here we look at what the statistics tell us about who is worst affected by the killer bug.
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Here are some at-a-glance figures from today's data:
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39.2% of deaths in England and Wales in the week to April 17 were linked to Covid-19 - a total of 8,758
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From the start of the year to April 17, 9.2% of UK deaths involved coronavirus
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In each age group, except those aged 1 to 14 years, more men died than women
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The number of care home deaths tripled in just three weeks, with more than 2,000 fatalities in the past fortnight
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In London 55.5% deaths registered in the week to April 17 had Covid-19 on the death certificate
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More than 40% of deaths of people between 45 and 84 listed Covid-19 as a cause
Fatalities by age in the week to April 17
The youngest two coronavirus victims were under 15, the ONS figures show.
The data shows that 39% of the 8,758 coronavirus-related fatalities were people aged 85 or older.
Four out of ten deaths of those aged between 45 and 84 were linked to Covid-19.
The highest proportion of deaths involving Covid-19 out of all causes was in the 65 to 74 age group.
In 42.7% of cases, coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.
Fatalities by region in the week to April 17
By April 17 there had been 21,284 deaths linked to the deadly virus in England - compared to the 13,917 announced in daily death tolls.
And a further 1,016 fatalities were recorded in Wales, 61% higher than the 632 deaths reported by Public Health Wales.
More than 55% of deaths in London during the seven days involved Covid-19.
The North West and South East both had more than 1,000 confirmed Covid-19 deaths, while the West Midlands had 999.
Here is a regional breakdown of the tragic figures
North East - 475
North West - 1,350
Yorkshire and the Humber - 690
East Midlands - 558
West Midlands - 999
East of England - 835
London - 1,818
South East - 1,109
South West - 501
Wales - 409
Deaths by gender
In each age group, except those aged 1 to 14 years, there have been more deaths involving Covid-19 in males than in females.
There were two female deaths in the 1 to 14 years age group but no males.
The largest difference was in the 75 to 84 years age group, where there were 4,063 deaths in males and 2,434 in females.
Deaths in care homes
More than 4,000 people have died in England’s care homes in the past fortnight, new figures reveal.
Between April 10 and April 25, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been notified of 4,343 deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes.
Notifications about deaths in care homes must be sent to the CQC without delay and are typically provided within two to three days of death.
The regulator introduced a new way of logging deaths involving Covid-19 from April 10.
Deaths are included based on the statement from the care home provider, so the person who died may not have had a medical diagnosis or a test result and Covid-19 may not have been mentioned on the death certificate.
Between April 10 and April 17, 1,968 deaths were recorded by the CQC, while the ONS found 1,999 COVID-19 related deaths in care home settings registered in England over the same time period.
