One in 10 coronavirus deaths were in ‘healthy’ people – as 5 most common underlying health conditions revealed
ALMOST one in every ten coronavirus deaths in England and Wales were in "healthy" people, figures released today have revealed.
New statistics show that 91 per cent of people who died from Covid-19 had at least one underlying health condition.
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the most common were heart disease and dementia.
Chronic lower respiratory diseases, diabetes and the flu were other pre-existing conditions that accounted for the most deaths.
The new analysis detailed all deaths that occurred in England and Wales between March 1 and 31, registered up to April 6.
In that time period, there were 3,912 deaths involving coronavirus - of which 86 per cent had Covid-19 listed as the cause of death.
In 91 per cent of cases, the patient also had at least one pre-existing condition.
Heart disease was the most common main pre-existing condition and was involved in 541 deaths - or 14 per cent of all deaths involving Covid-19
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The analysis of all deaths registered so far in March found that eight per cent involved coronavirus, making it the third biggest killer - after dementia and coronary heart disease.
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Speaking at the daily No 10 press conference on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there could be no "let up" in the efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
"We cannot let go of the hard work that has been done so far. This shared sacrifice is starting to work but we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so," he said.
Human cost
The human cost of the epidemic was underlined with the disclosure that the latest victims of the disease included pregnant nurse Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, who had worked on a general ward at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital for five years.
Her baby, a girl, was delivered successfully and was doing well, according to the hospital.
According to the latest figures, 13,729 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 861 from the previous day.
However, England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned of a possible "bounce" in the numbers when the next set of figures are released due to delays in reporting deaths over the Easter weekend.
He said while the UK was "probably" reaching the peak of the epidemic, the high numbers of deaths were expected to continue for a "short while" to come.
Meanwhile, captain Tom Moore, 99, who is walking 100 lengths of his garden to generate cash for the NHS has been praised as "an inspiration to us all" as his fundraising campaign passed the £12 million mark.