Dataset(s):Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional

Important notes and usage information

Main points from latest release

• The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 17 April 2020 (Week 16) was 22,351; this represents an increase of 3,835 deaths registered compared with the previous week (Week 15) and 11,854 more than the five-year average; this is the highest weekly total recorded since comparable figures begin in 1993.

• Of the deaths registered in Week 16, 8,758 mentioned "novel coronavirus (COVID-19)", which is 39.2% of all deaths; this compares with 6,213 (33.6% of all deaths) in Week 15.

• In London, over half (55.5%) of deaths registered in Week 16 involved COVID-19; the North West and North East also had a high proportion of COVID-19 deaths, accounting for 42.3% and 41.1% respectively of deaths registered in these regions.

• Of deaths involving COVID-19 registered up to Week 16, 77.4% (14,796 deaths) occurred in hospital with the remainder occurring in care homes, private homes and hospices.

• The number of overall deaths in care homes for Week 16 was 7,316; this is 2,389 higher than Week 15, almost double the number in Week 14 and almost triple the number in Week 13.

• Week 16 included the Easter Monday bank holiday, and the five-year average shows a decrease in registrations over the Easter holiday; however, the Coronavirus Act 2020 allowed registry offices to remain open over Easter, which may have reduced any drop in registrations for Week 16 2020.

Notes

The table includes number of deaths for which the underlying cause was coded to respiratory diseases as defined in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Tenth Revision (ICD-10), as well as age group, sex and by area of usual residence.

For information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to mortality statistics, please see our User guide to mortality statistics.

There is an interactive mapping tool which enables trends in mortality to be analysed at the local level.

For mortality data for other UK countries please see statistics on deaths in Scotland and statistics on deaths in Northern Ireland.