THE UK’s overall coronavirus death toll has risen to just under 63,000, according to new figures.
A total of 61,257 deaths have so far been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the latest reports from the UK's statistics agencies.
This includes 55,796 deaths in England and Wales up to October 23 (and registered up to October 31), which were confirmed by the ONS on Tuesday.
Since these statistics were compiled, a further 1428 deaths are known to have occurred in England, plus 67 in Scotland, 90 in Wales and 80 in Northern Ireland, according to additional data published on the Government's coronavirus dashboard.
Together, these totals mean that so far 62,922 deaths involving Covid-19 have taken place in the UK.
It comes as it was revealed the number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus south of the Border is at its highest level since early June, new statistics show.
A total of 978 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending October 23 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is the highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending June 12, and is up from 670 deaths in the week to October 16 – a jump of 46%.
Of the 978 deaths that involved Covid-19, 874 had this recorded as the underlying cause of death (89.4%) and of the 1,719 deaths that involved influenza and pneumonia, 302 had the cause coded as its underlying cause (17.6%), the ONS said.
The number of deaths in hospitals was above the five-year average in the week ending October 23 with 14 more deaths, the first time since the week ending May 15 (614 more).
The numbers of deaths in private homes and care homes also were above the five-year average at 959 and 39 more deaths respectively.
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