Nearly 500 deaths involving Covid-19 took place in the UK on the “deadliest day” of the second wave so far, new analysis has found.

A total of 494 deaths occurred on November 18 where Covid-19 was recorded on the death certificate.

This compares with 1,455 deaths on April 8 – the ‘deadliest day’ of the first wave.

Since November 18 the number of deaths per day has fallen slightly, but has remained in the 400s.

The figures have been compiled by the PA news agency from provisional data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

They also show that:

– Of the 78,145 deaths involving Covid-19 that have occurred in the UK from the start of the pandemic up to December 4, a quarter (19,636, or 25%) have taken place since the start of October.

– More than 3,000 deaths occurred in the space of just seven days, from November 18 to 24.

– There have been 11 days so far during the second wave when the number of deaths was above 450. During the first wave, there were 23 consecutive days when the number of deaths was above 1,000.

The totals for more recent days, such as December 1 – currently 369 – are likely to rise once more deaths are registered.

Figures for deaths involving Covid-19 are different to the number of deaths announced each day by the Government, which only include people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

The Government’s daily total is also based on how many new deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, not how many have actually taken place.

Separate figures published on Tuesday by the ONS show the number of deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the UK fell in the week ending December 4 – the first week-on-week drop since the start of September.

Of all deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the UK, around nine in 10 have the virus recorded as the underlying cause of death.