Weekly coronavirus deaths have dropped to the lowest number in England and Wales since mid-March, new statistics suggest.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows a total of 101 deaths registered in the week ending August 28 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.
This is down from 138 deaths in the previous week.
It is also the lowest number since the week ending March 13, when five deaths involving Covid-19 were registered.
Now just over 57,400 deaths involving Covid-19 have been registered in the UK, the ONS said.
Figures published on Tuesday show that 52,316 deaths involving Covid-19 had occurred in England and Wales up to August 28, and had been registered by September 5.
Meanwhile, figures published last week by the National Records for Scotland showed that 4,228 deaths involving Covid-19 had been registered in Scotland up to August 30.
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ln Northern Ireland, 873 deaths had occurred up to August 28 (and had been registered up to September 2), according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
Together, these figures mean that so far 57,417 deaths have been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases.
Meanwhile, there were 931 excess deaths in private homes in England and Wales registered in England and Wales in the week ending on August 28, but these were not involving Covid-19, the ONS said.
This is the highest number of non-Covid-19 excess deaths in this setting since the week ending May 22.
Excess deaths are the number of deaths above the average for the corresponding period in the previous five years.
By contrast just nine deaths involving Covid-19 in private homes were registered in the week to August 28.
Total excess deaths in private homes in the week to August 28 – including Covid-19 deaths – was 940, the highest since the week ending June 5.
The ONS has said it intends to publish further investigation into how deaths in private homes have increased since the coronavirus outbreak.
