Care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales rose by the fourth highest weekly toll since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
In the week ending 22 January, 2,364 care home resident deaths were recorded where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
That compares with 1,719 care home resident Covid-related deaths a week earlier, 1,370 the week before that and 745 in the week ending 31 December.
The 2,364 weekly toll was the fourth highest since the 3,082 recorded in the week ending 7 May.
The data refers to all deaths where either it occurred in a care home or occurred elsewhere but the place of residence of the deceased was recorded as a care home.
The figures published by the ONS showed a total of 32,474 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 between the week ending 20 March (week 12, 2020) and the week ending 22 January (week three, 2021).
The ONS data showed 4,680 all-cause care home resident deaths in week three, meaning Covid accounted for 50.5 per cent of the total.
In all, 142,094 care residents have died from all causes in the corresponding weeks since the start of the pandemic.
That compares with the 112,317 five-year average total number of care home resident deaths between week 12 and week three in England and Wales between 2015 and 2019.
