Second wave of Covid deaths in England and Wales peaked on 19 January, says ONS data

The second wave of coronavirus peaked in England and Wales on 19 January at 1,404 deaths in a single day, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistic.

The figure, which based on reported deaths 28 days after a positive Covid test, has since remained below 1,300 — meaning the peak appears to have been reached in the third week of January.

The figures also suggest the second wave of the virus has been longer and deadlier than the first.

There were 19 consecutive days – between 7 and 25 January - on which the daily death toll for England and Wales was above 1,000. That compares to 23 consecutive days during the peak of the first wave of the virus in April 2020.

Deaths in England and Wales reached 1,457 on 8 April, making it the deadliest day so far during the pandemic.

However, the highest death toll of the pandemic across the whole UK was recorded on 13 January, with 1,564 deaths.

As of 29 January, a total of 126,023 people died in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.

Some 8,433 deaths in the week ending 29 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate — the second highest weekly number since the pandemic began.

The figure represented nearly half, or 46 per cent, of all deaths in that week.