Almost 3,000 more people died from non-coronavirus related illnesses compared to the average in the week up to April 3, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Throughout February, deaths overall in England and Wales were below the five-year rolling average compiled by the ONS. But figures released this morning show a huge spike in deaths where Covid-19 was not mentioned on the death certificate in the week ending April 3.
The ONS figures show that two weeks ago England and Wales recorded 16,387 deaths, which is 6,089 more than the week average.
This means that 869 more people died per day than during an average week. More than a third of those deaths was not caused by Covid-19, according to the death certificates.