Yahoo Sports London records 42% rise in weekly deaths as impact of second Covid-19 wave revealed
The number of weekly Covid deaths in the capital jumped from 87 to 124
(Getty Images)London today recorded a marked increase in “excess deaths” for the first time in the second wave of Covid as the deadly impact of the virus was revealed.
The number of weekly Covid deaths in the capital jumped by 42 per cent, from 87 to 124, as the total number of deaths from all causes in London rose to 1,112 – 139 more than average for the time of year.
It came as the number of Covid deaths across the UK increased by 612 to 2,838 in the week to November 13, a rise of 27.5 per cent.
Today’s figures are the worst in London for 25 weeks but do show that the capital continues to be less severely affected than the rest of the country by the second wave.
Only the South West recorded fewer deaths in the most recent week – a total of 100.
There were 132 weekly deaths in East of England, 144 in the South East, 450 in Yorkshire and the Humber and 615 in the North-West.
Today’s figures are the first that include the period of the second national lockdown, which began on November 5.
However deaths are a “lagging indicator”, as they relate to infections caught about a fortnight earlier. This means the hoped impact of the lockdown in reducing rates could take a couple of weeks to be seen in the ONS’s weekly figures.
The capital’s Covid death toll remains well below that seen at the peak of the first wave, when 1,818 deaths a week were seen in mid-April.
Across the UK, the number of Covid deaths increased by 612 to 2,838, a weekly rise of 27.5 per cent.
The figures come as the capital waits to find out which tier it will be placed into once lockdown ends on December 2.
Boris Johnson announced on Monday that a beefed-up tier system will come into force at the end of the national shutdown, in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus.
Several businesses are calling for London to be placed into Tier 2 - which would allow pubs, restaurants and bars to open with certain restrictions - rather than Tier 3, which bans the hospitality sector from opening, apart from for takeaway.
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