The excess deaths crisis continues, with 795 excess deaths – 7.4% above the five-year average – registered in England and Wales in the week ending November 11th, according to the ONS. Of these, 434 were attributed to an underlying cause other than COVID-19, bringing the total excess non-Covid deaths since the wave began in April to 24,820.
There has been a lot of attention given to cancer deaths in the past week, which have been elevated in recent months. This is clearly something to be concerned about, and likely to get worse. However, cancer deaths are only a small portion of the recent excess deaths, with 900 registered above average since the start of September. In that time there have been around 11,000 excess deaths in total, meaning cancer deaths account for around 8% of the excess deaths this autumn.