COVID no longer the main cause of deaths in England and Wales, figures show

Coronavirus was not the main cause of deaths in England and Wales in March – the first time for four months, new figures show.

The leading cause of deaths was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in England, accounting for 10.1% of all fatalities registered that month, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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In Wales, ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of deaths, accounting for 11.8% of all fatalities.

The data shows COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in both countries that month, accounting for 9.2% of all fatalities registered in England and 6.3% in Wales.

The virus was the leading cause of death each month from November to February.

The latest figures come at a time of concern over new COVID-19 variants.

Surge testing is being deployed in some parts of England after cases of the South African variant were discovered.

However one in five adults in the UK have now received two coronavirus vaccine doses – a total of 10.7 million people.

Latest figures show a further 22 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,327.

Separate numbers published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.

Provisional ONS figures show there were 45,567 deaths registered in England in March, 956 fewer than in the same month last year but 656 more than the five-year average from 2015-19.

Of these deaths, 4,198 were due to coronavirus, a month-on-month fall of 75% from 16,682 in February.

In Wales, the provisional number of deaths registered in March was 2,984, 150 fewer than in March 2020 and 87 fewer than the five-year average for that month, the ONS said.

Of these, 189 were due to coronavirus, a month-on-month drop of 73% from 711 in February.

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