The weekly number of deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has fallen for the fourth week in a row, figures show.

       A total of 863 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending February 18 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

       This is down 19% on the previous seven days and is the fourth week-on-week fall in a row.

       Around one in 13 (7.7%) deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to February 18 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

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       The figures suggest Covid-19 deaths are on a downwards trend, following the rise in December and early January driven by the Omicron variant.

       Numbers are well below the peak of the second wave of the pandemic a year ago, when 8,433 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in England and Wales in the week to January 29 2021.

       This was nearly six times the 1,484 registered in the peak week of the current wave, during the seven days to January 21.

       The ONS figures also showed that 235 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to February 18, down from 300 in the previous seven days.

       In total, 46,563 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.

       The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.