The number of Londoners dying with coronavirus today dropped to its lowest number on record.
Four Covid deaths were recorded in the capital in the last week of August - as the total across England and Wales also fell to the lowest number since before lockdown.
It came as separate data showed only 10 coronavirus patients were admitted to critical care units in London last month.
But concerns remain about an increase in infections among young people in the capital, with Kensington and Chelsea this week becoming the first borough to deploy an urgent testing unit to enable hundreds of residents to get tested.
Today’s release from the Office for National Statistics said there were 101 deaths in England and Wales in the week ending August 28 where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
This was 37 fewer than the previous week and the lowest recorded since the week ending March 13 , a fortnight before lockdown was imposed.
In London, the four deaths are the lowest ever recorded in the capital since the virus began to circulate.
The biggest number of deaths in the most recent week was in the North West (34), followed by East of England (13). There were 11 deaths in the South-East outside London.
The latest report on admissions to intensive care units, also published today, shows how the number of people falling critically ill with Covid has slowed to a trickle.
At the peak of the pandemic in April, almost 3,800 people were in intensive care.
But today’s report from ICNARC (Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre) said that 110 people across the country required intensive care in August, including 10 in London, after developing Covid-19.
The figures are a further indication of how the rising number of cases - there have been almost 3,000 new cases a day across the UK in the last 48 hours - has not resulted in a similar increase in serious illness, probably due to many new cases being in people under 30.
The ICNARC report includes data from all 289 NHS adult units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The biggest number of ICU admissions last month was in the North West (40), followed by the Midlands and by North East and Yorkshire (both 18). There were 11 admissions in the South East outside the capital.
Since the start of the pandemic, 10,834 patients have required critical care, including 3,053 in London.
Of the 10,704 patients whose outcome is known, 5,868 were discharged from hospital alive while 4,554 died, either while in critical care or after being transferred back to a ward. A total of 130 people are still in intensive care.
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