Reported Covid deaths have been low in recent weeks but the real number of people for whom the virus was a major cause of death is lower still, according to the latest figures which show that almost 40% of recently registered Covid deaths in England and Wales were people who died primarily from another condition. The Telegraph has the story.

Out of 107 Covid deaths registered in the week ending May 21st, just 66 had the virus recorded as the underlying cause of death – 61.7%.

For the rest of the cases, although coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate it was not a major cause.

It is the lowest number of deaths with Covid as the underlying cause since the week ending March 13th, 2020 – the first week that deaths involving Covid were registered in England and Wales, when just five registrations were listed.

The ONS continues to include those who did not primarily die of Covid in its official statistics, even though the World Health Organisation has issued guidance warning they should not be classified as Covid deaths in official figures.

The data lends support to claims that although cases have been rising in Britain in recent weeks, due largely to the Indian [“Delta”] variant, that is not so far translating into a significant increase in deaths.

On Tuesday, the Government announced the first day without any Covid deaths since before the first lockdown in March last year…

The weekly ONS data show that Covid is now mentioned in only around one in 90 death registrations in England and Wales – the equivalent of just 1.1% of all deaths registered in the week.

It is the lowest proportion since the week ending September 11th, when the figure was 1.0%. At the peak of the second wave, in the week ending January 29th, the figure stood at 45.7%.

The number of Covid deaths registered in England and Wales in the most recent week, to May 21st, is also the lowest since the week to September 11th.

Worth reading in full.