The number of COVID-related deaths in England and Wales increased by nearly 40% in a week and reached their highest number since August. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows some 400 deaths registered in the seven days to 7 October mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate. The figure climbed 39% from 287 the week earlier. Of those 400 deaths, 63.5% (254 deaths) had COVID recorded as the underlying cause of death, slightly higher than the week before when it was 63.1% (181 deaths).
