Covid Deaths in England and Wales Reach Highest Since Early June

(Bloomberg) -- Deaths linked to Covid-19 in England and Wales rose to the highest in almost five months in the final week of October.

Fatalities where the disease was mentioned on the death certificate totaled 1,379 in the period, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. That’s up more than 40% from 978 in the previous week.

The total number of deaths registered was 10.1% above the five-year average -- similar to the number reported last week. Covid deaths accounted for 12.7% of all fatalities in England and Wales during the period.

Hopes are rising that a vaccine will prove effective against the disease after Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said preliminary results found their project prevented more than 90% of symptomatic infections. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Britons to keep following coronavirus restrictions despite the breakthrough, saying it is “very, very early days.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.