Weekly deaths in Suffolk that mention coronavirus on the death certificate are at their highest point since last March, latest data has shown.

A total of 22 deaths registered in the week ending January 14 mentioned Covid on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This was a rise from 14 the week before and has not been this high since the seven days up to March 12 last year, when 25 deaths were recorded.

The highest weekly number of Covid deaths in Suffolk reached 121 in the week up to January 22 last year - when hundreds of patients were being treated for the virus in the county's hospitals.

Plan-B-Measures-To-Be-Dropped-Across-England-Johns-5229ea16

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, and West Suffolk Hospital were treating 178 virus patients between them on January 18.

However, this remains far below the total of more than 700 seen in the middle of last January.

ONS figures revealed Covid deaths are at a 10-month high throughout England and Wales after 1,382 were recorded in the week up to January 14.

This was a rise of about 50% from the previous week's figure of 922.

The Omicron wave is now having an impact on death registrations, though numbers are still well below the level seen at the peak of the second wave of the virus last year.

Some 8,433 deaths involving Covid were registered in England and Wales in the week to January 29 2021 - more than six times the most recent figure.

Experts have said the relatively low number of deaths seen during the current wave reflects the success of the vaccination programme, in particular the rollout of booster doses at the end of last 2021.

Protection against hospital admission from Covid remains at about 90% for those aged 65 and over for about three months after a booster jab, according to recent analysis by the UK Health Security Agency.

With only two doses, protection against severe disease drops to around 70% after three months and to 50% after six months.