April was the deadliest month ON RECORD in England and Wales: Official figures show 88,000 people died amid the coronavirus pandemic – TWICE as many as last April
- A total 88,153 people died of any cause in England and Wales in April
- The number is significantly higher than any other month on record
- Death rate more than doubled in the space of two months from February
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A total of 88,153 people died in England and Wales in April 2020, making it the deadliest month on record.
The number is more than double the amount of people who died in April last year (44,123) or in February, before the start of the coronavirus outbreak (43,653).
The figure shows that Covid-19’s arrival in Britain led to people dying at twice the rate they would in a normal month.
In London this effect was even worse and the number of people who died in April was triple what it was in the same month last year.
Counting people who had coronavirus listed as their official cause of death, the number of fatalities nationwide in April was 27,764.
But experts say the true death toll of the infection is considerably higher because many patients will have been undiagnosed or their cause of death inaccurately recorded.
‘Excess deaths’ have also emerged as an issue, with the pandemic leading to people dying of causes other than the virus because they couldn’t get the same medical care they would have otherwise had access to.
Past data from the Office for National Statistics showed that January 2018 had the highest number of fatalities until now, with 64,154 dead.
The Covid-19 pandemic doubled the rate of deaths from all causes in England and Wales in April, data showed today. 8,180 people died as a direct result of the coronavirus during the worst week, from April 11 to 17
The ONS statistics published today show the number of people who have died of any cause, month by month.
In January this year, 56,706 people died in England and Wales, which was high but not unheard of for winter. That was followed by 46,653 in February and 49,723 in March.
April, however, brought a huge spike to 88,153 – 0.15 per cent of the entire population.
The first death from coronavirus in an NHS England hospital happened on March 2 and there were 3,857 during that month. There were 17,774 in April.
Regionally the biggest increase in deaths between April last year and April this year happened in London, where it rose 197 per cent from 4,102 to 12,175.
It also more than doubled in the West Midlands, which is centred around Birmingham, from 4,527 to 9,932 (119 per cent).
And in the North West, including Lancashire, Cumbria and Manchester, it rose by 112 per cent from 5,835 to 12,354.
Other regions of the country saw substantial increases but their numbers less than doubled.