Covid-19 drops to ninth-leading cause of death in England

Latest data shows Alzheimer’s disease deadlier than coronavirus

Covid-19 was the ninth-leading cause of death in the UK. Getty Images

People in England are more likely to die from Alzheimer’s than Covid-19, data shows.

Research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 941 deaths were caused by coronavirus last month – the equivalent of 2.4 per cent of all deaths registered in England.

The tally made the disease the ninth-leading cause of death in April.

From November to February, Covid-19 was the leading cause of death in England.

In March, the disease was the third-leading cause of death, before dropping six places in a month.

In April, ischaemic heart disease (4,144 deaths) was the biggest killer in England, followed by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (4,018 deaths).

April was also the first month where deaths in England were below the five-year average – 6.1 per cent lower – since August 2020, ONS data showed.

The overall mortality rate was 851.2 deaths per 100,000 people – the lowest for April since 2001.

England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty referred to the improving Covid-19 situation when speaking about the dangers of smoking.

He said smoking-related diseases killed 90,000 a year. The UK’s total Covid-19 death toll is 127,694.

“Smoking is one of the biggest causes of a very large number of diseases, of which lung cancer is only one,” he said.

“It is likely that by the end of last year at least as many and probably more people will have died of smoking-related disease than of Covid. It also has a very significant impact on hospitalisation.”

Three people died from Covid-19 during the latest 24-hour period, and there were 2,696 new cases recorded.