Covid deaths up for another week with 40% rise in fatalities – as latest wave ‘peaks’

COVID-19 deaths in England and Wales have risen for the third week in a row, new figures reveal.

But levels of the killer virus still remain well below those seen in the early part of the pandemic.

Alamy Live News

A total of 565 deaths registered in the seven days to October 14 mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is up 41 per cent on the previous week and is the highest number since the seven days to August 12.

The rise is being driven by the latest wave of Covid-19 infections, which has been under way since the start of September.

Currently, Omicron is the main strain circulating, which has been proven to be milder than others that came before it.

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There are early signs the current wave may be peaking.

According to the tracker, around one in 21 people in the UK have the bug – with numbers now also falling in the youngest age groups.

Experts at the ZOE symptom tracker app revealed there are currently an estimated 209,243 infections, down from 235,829 last week.

But it will be a while before this has an impact on death registrations.

This is because the trend in deaths lags behind the equivalent trend in infections due to the length of time between someone catching the virus and becoming seriously ill, as well as the time it takes for deaths to be registered.

During the previous wave of infections in the summer, deaths peaked at 810 in the week ending July 29.

This was well below the numbers seen during the early waves of the pandemic, when weekly deaths peaked around 10 times this level.

High levels of Covid antibodies among the population – either from vaccination or previous infection – mean the number of people seriously ill or dying from the virus this year has stayed low.

Meanwhile, cases of other deadly viruses are on the rise as immunity is low.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has increased by 18.5 per cent in cases among under 5’s during the week ending on October 16 compared to the previous week.

Flu cases are also higher than usual for this time of year and are expected to soar in the coming weeks. 

If you’ve had the virus before, you might think you’d know exactly what to look out for.

But as strains have evolved and changed over the last two years, so have the symptoms.

The most recent data from the ZOE Symptom Tracker app states that there are 20 symptoms Brits should be on the lookout for.

This data refers to all Brits who have logged their symptoms on the app, regardless of how many jabs they have had.

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1. Sore throat – 63.55 per cent
2. Runny nose – 53.04 per cent
3. Headache – 53.02 per cent
4. Blocked nose – 52.47 per cent
5. Cough no phlegm – 52.06 per cent
6. Sneezing – 47.02 per cent
7. Cough with phlegm – 45.79 per cent
8. Hoarse voice – 43.86 per cent
9. Muscle pain aches – 29.46 per cent
10. Fatigue – 22.97 per cent
11. Dizzy light headed – 21.11 per cent
12. Altered smell – 19.82 per cent
13. Swollen neck glands – 17.72 per cent
14. Eye soreness – 16.41 per cent
15. Chest pain tightness – 16.26 per cent
16. Shortness of breath – 15.9 per cent
17. Loss of smell – 14.45 per cent
18. Earache – 13.96 per cent
19. Chills or shivers – 12.98 per cent
20. Joint pain shoulders – 11.08 per cent

Check out The Sun’s interactive Covid hotspots map to see how affected your area is.