Coronavirus was no longer the leading cause of death in England and Wales in March for the first time since October, new figures show.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in both states in March – accounting for 9.2% of all deaths registered in England and 6.3% in Wales.
The virus was the leading cause of death every month from November to February.
According to the ONS, the leading cause of death in England in March was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 10.1% of all deaths registered that month, while in Wales it was ischemic heart disease which accounted for 11.8% of all deaths. that month.
The data comes a day after the government said a further 22 people had died within 28 days of positive testing for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, making the UK a total of 127,327.
Separate figures released by the British Statistics Agency show that 151,000 deaths have been reported in the UK where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death list.
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The data comes on the same day, Health Minister Matt Hancock said the number of patients admitted to the hospital with coronavirus has dropped to its lowest level since September.
Hancock tweeted that the figure is below 2,000 – a stark contrast to the 37,475 people in the coronavirus hospital on Jan. 18.
The health minister also celebrated data on the ongoing introduction of the vaccine, saying more than 43 million people have been vaccinated so far – 33,139,742 with the first dose and 10,775,817 with the second.
Positive data is coming as the UK moves towards the next stage of the roadmap after the lock.
Retail, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor catering reopened on April 12 and saw the British enjoying a return to a kind of normalcy.
The next step should be on May 17 when indoor catering can reopen and potentially return to international leisure travel.
However, some experts have warned of a third wave of coronavirus and called for caution in easing the restrictions.
Earlier in April, Dr. Mike Tildesley, of the University of Warwick and a member of the Spi-M modeling group advising the government, said there could “be” a third wave in the UK, but probably not as high as some models predict. .
He said there could be a potential increase in infections because more social interference is allowed.
Professor Sir Mark Walport, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, said “very good progress” had been made along the way, but that a third wave was possible if the brakes were removed completely.
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