Burnley and Padiham care home residents and staff among first for new Covid vaccine

Office for National Statistics data shows that 96 deaths involving Covid were provisionally registered in Burnley up to November 7th.

Of those, 28 occurred outside hospital – including 24 in care homes and two at private homes. A further two deaths occurred in hospices, other community establishments or elsewhere.

That was up from 18 deaths in care homes up to October 17th.

The latest figures come after hopes of a vaccine moved closer to reality, as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech revealed their vaccine could prevent nine in 10 people from contracting the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautiously welcomed the news, telling a Downing Street press conference that the vaccine had cleared a “significant hurdle” but there were more to cross before it could be used.

Interim guidance from the Government's joint committee on vaccination and immunisation says older adults in care homes and care home workers should be first in line for the jab.

Across England and Wales, 57,300 deaths involving Covid-19 were provisionally registered up to November 7th. Of those, 28% (16,200) were in care homes and nearly two-thirds in hospital.

In the week ending October 30th, there were 168 care home deaths across the two countries which mentioned "novel coronavirus" on the death certificate.

“It remains still too early to see the impact on deaths of both the tiered system and national lockdown measures for England.”

In the three weeks to November 7th in Burnley:

Deaths outside hospital increased by seven, climbing to a total of 28

Hospital deaths increased by 16 to 68

The overall death toll climbed by 23