Care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have reached the lowest level since October, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
In the week ending 19 March (week 11), 195 care home resident deaths were recorded where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
That compares with 300 care home resident Covid-related deaths in the week ending 12 March and 467 the week before that.
The latest figure is the lowest since 220 Covid-related deaths were recorded in the week ending 29 October (week 43, 2020).
The data refers to all deaths where either the death occurred in a care home or occurred elsewhere - such as hospitals - but the place of residence of the deceased was recorded as a care home.
The ONS data shows 2,126 care home residents died from all causes in week 11 – down from 2,278 a week earlier - meaning Covid was a factor in nine per cent of total deaths.
Figures published by the ONS also show a total of 41,212 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 between the week ending 20 March (week 12, 2020) and the week ending 19 March.
