England and Wales have recorded the lowest number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus since the UK went into lockdown in March.
A total of 8,945 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending August 7, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – 157 fewer than the five-year average of 9,102.
This is the eighth week in a row that deaths have been below the five-year average.
Of the deaths registered in the week to August 7, 152 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate – the lowest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending March 20 (103 deaths).
Just over 57,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now been registered in the UK in total, including suspected cases, according to ONS figures.
A total of six regions in England had deaths below the five-year average in the week ending August 7, the ONS said, including London which reported deaths at 4.5 per cent below.
Yokshire & the Humber reported the most dramatic fall in the measure, reporting deaths at 5.4 per cent below.
Eastern England (4.5 per cent below), south-west England (4.4 per cent below), the West Midlands (0.6 per cent below) and south-east England (0.2 per cent below) also showed marked decreases.
The drop was not seen in all areas of the UK, however.
In three regions the number of registered deaths was above the five-year average: north-west England (0.6 per cent above), north-east England (0.8 per cent above) and the East Midlands (4.9 per cent above).
The news came as Leicester was expected to leave local lockdown today having recorded a fall in the number of new cases seven weeks after the restrictions were imposed.
A total of 193 new cases were reported in the seven days to August 14, pushing the infection rate down to 54.5 per 100,000 people.
The city became the first in the UK placed into local lockdown on June 30 after a spike pushed the rate up to 135. public health officials warned that Birmingham could be added to the watch list soon, having seen its rate rise from 18.2 to 31.5, with 360 new cases
In London, Hounslow saw the highest number of new cases and the highest infection rate, with 48 new cases raising the rate from 14.7 to 17.7.
In Richmond, the rate rose from 4.0 to 16.7 with 33 new cases, while Kensington and Chelsea rose from 3.8 to 14.1 with 22 new cases.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock today confirmed that Baroness Harding, the former TalkTalk boss who now runs NHS England’s test-and-trace scheme, will take on another key role in the UK’s efforts to tackle the pandemic.
The Conservative peer will head up the National Institute for Health Protection, which will bring together Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre into a single body focused on tackling Covid-19 and protecting the nation’s health.
Mr Hancock said: “The National Institute for Health Protection will bring together the expertise of PHE with the enormous response capabilities of NHS Test and Trace to deliver a step-change in health protection.