Weekly coronavirus-related deaths up 53% in England, Wales

Weekly coronavirus-related deaths have risen in England and Wales for the sixth consecutive week and have now reached the highest levels since mid-June, figures released by the British Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

Up by 53 percent on the previous week, a total of 670 deaths were registered in the week ending Oct. 16 with COVID-19 mentioned on the death certificate, compared with 438 the week before.

The North West of England is the worst-hit area for coronavirus deaths with 229 of 670 new fatalities recorded there in one week, said the ONS.

Three-quarters of those who died around Britain were aged over 75, but the over-90s are now beginning to die at greater rates, said the Daily Mirror, a British national daily tabloid newspaper, in a report.

Meanwhile, according to the calculation by the London-based The Guardian newspaper, the COVID-19 death toll across Britain has passed 61,000, based on the total number of deaths registered by statistical agencies across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To bring life back to normal, countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.