Excess deaths in England and Wales at the end of April shot up to 21% above average, after hovering around zero or below since the start of the Omicron wave, ONS data show.
There were 2,163 excess deaths in the week ending April 29th, the most recent week for which data are available. However, there were 1,125 Covid deaths, a similar number to the previous week’s figure of 1,042, leaving a sudden spike of 1,038 non-Covid excess deaths. Covid deaths were a similar proportion of total deaths in each of the two weeks: 9.0% in the most recent week and 9.8% the previous week.
The ONS report says the spike may be related to the bank holidays delaying registration: “The number of deaths registered in week ending April 29th is affected by the bank holidays in the previous weeks; similar patterns have been seen in past years in the weeks following the Easter bank holidays.”
So is it just a blip caused by recording delays, or does the fact that Covid deaths don’t seem to be similarly affected, as one might expect for registration issues, suggest something real? One to watch.
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