Further coronavirus death in Dacorum community

A further coronavirus-related death has occurred in the community in Dacorum, new figures reveal.

Office for National Statistics data shows that 137 deaths involving Covid-19 were provisionally registered in Dacorum up to November 7.

Of those, 34 occurred outside hospital – including 23 in care homes and seven at private homes. A further four deaths occurred in hospices, other community establishments or elsewhere.

That was up from 33 deaths outside care homes up to October 17. The death did not occur in a care home in the area.

The latest figures come after hopes of a vaccine moved closer to reality, as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech revealed their vaccine could prevent nine in 10 people from contracting the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautiously welcomed the news, telling a Downing Street press conference that the vaccine had cleared a “significant hurdle” but there were more to cross before it could be used.

Interim guidance from the Government's joint committee on vaccination and immunisation says older adults in care homes and care home workers should be first in line for the jab.

Across England and Wales, 57,300 deaths involving Covid-19 were provisionally registered up to November 7. Of those, 28% (16,200) were in care homes and nearly two-thirds in hospital.

In the week ending October 30, there were 168 care home deaths across the two countries which mentioned "novel coronavirus" on the death certificate.

Deaths in all settings have steadily risen across England and Wales amid soaring positive case numbers – 1,379 Covid-related fatalities were registered in the seven days to October 30, the first time the weekly figure has exceeded 1,000 since June.

Sarah Scobie director of research at the Nuffield Trust health think tank, said another “bleak milestone” had been reached, adding: “Clearly we are now seeing the fallout from the looser social distancing restrictions over the summer beginning to play out.

“For the second week in a row the number of deaths recorded in hospitals is above the five-year average. It is likely we’ll see this trend continue for further weeks in some regions as hospitals take in patients as a result of the second spike in infections.

“It remains still too early to see the impact on deaths of both the tiered system and national lockdown measures for England.”

In the three weeks to November 7 in Dacorum:

- Deaths outside hospital increased by one, climbing to a total of 34

- Hospital deaths increased by seven to 103

- The overall death toll climbed by eight