TENDRING has recorded almost 10 per cent more deaths in the first nine months of this year than last, official figures show.

The total number of monthly deaths across England and Wales rose in September for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, though deaths due to coronavirus were not in the top ten leading causes.

Office for National Statistics figures show 1,794 deaths were recorded in Tendring between January and September – 8 per cent more than by the same point last year.

Of these, 173 occurred last month, 16 more than in September 2019.

Separate ONS figures show the age-standardised mortality rate in September due to Covid-19 was 12.6 per 100,000 people in England.

The ONS said: “In September 2020, the number of deaths and mortality rate due to Covid-19 remained significantly below levels seen in March 2020 – the first month a Covid-19 death was registered in England and Wales.

“However, the mortality rate due to Covid-19 was significantly higher in England in September 2020 compared with the previous month, August 2020."

Deaths that were "due to Covid-19" were the 19th most common cause of death in England last month, and the 24th most in Wales.

These are different from those “involving Covid-19”, which includes those where the virus is mentioned anywhere on a death certificate.

Professor Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at The Open University, said the increase in deaths from August to September in England and Wales was "definitely not" due to deaths directly caused by coronavirus.