Covid-19 drops to ninth leading cause of death in England

Covid death rates have reached their lowest point since September last year, as over half the adult population is vaccinated (Picture: Getty Images)

The Office for National Statistics has revealed Covid 19 was the ninth leading cause of death in England in April, the lowest ranking since September 2020.

ONS published data which indicated 2.4 percent of death were due to coronavirus, a total of 941 people died from Covid.

From November 2020 to February, coronavirus remained the leading cause of death in England.

It dropped to third place in March and plummeted further to ninth last month, when the leading cause of death was ischaemic heart diseases with 4,144 deaths, followed by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease accounting for 4,018 deaths.

lowest mortality rate for the month of April

April was also the first time since last August where deaths in England were below the five-year average (6.1 percent lower), the ONS said.

The overall mortality rate was 851.2 deaths per 100,000 people, the lowest mortality rate for the month of April since the ONS data time series began in 2001.

This was also the case in Wales where the mortality rate was 920 per 100,000.

In Wales, Covid-19 ranked as the 18th ranked cause of death in April, accounting for 35 deaths, or 1.4 percent of the total.

Wales’ deaths were also predominantly caused by Ischaemic heart diseases followed by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, at 300 deaths and 267 deaths respectively.

Covid-19 also caused the most deaths in Wales from November 2020 to February.

The figures come as people aged 34 and over are offered their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine from today (20 May).

More than one million people aged 34 and 35 will receive a text message on Thursday or Friday asking them to make a vaccine appointment.

The NHS added that the jab rollout is expected to reach people in their early thirties “over the next few days and weeks”.