Deaths from COVID-19 declined again in the Liverpool City Region during the fourth week of March, new figures have shown.

Only 13 people in the city region died from COVID-19 during the week up to March 26, down from 17 the week before, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics today.

This was the eighth week in a row that COVID deaths declined in the region, and the lowest number of weekly deaths since mid-September.

Almost half the deaths during the week up to March 26 occurred in Sefton, where six were recorded. Sefton was also the only borough to see a rise in its weekly death toll.

Two boroughs, Halton and Knowsley, recorded no deaths for the first time since September 18, while there was only one death in a care home.

The ONS figures include all deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, meaning it was either the primary cause of death or a contributing factor.

The number of COVID deaths during the week up to March 26 for each borough is given below, along with the total number of COVID deaths for the whole pandemic.

- Wirral – 2 (985)

- Halton – 0 (300)

- Knowsley – 0 (430)

- Liverpool – 4 (1,405)

- St Helens – 1 (541)

- Sefton – 6 (893)

As a whole, the city region has seen 4,554 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the crisis in March 2020. This means one in every 342 people in the city region has died of COVID-19.

Deaths are expected to continue falling, both in the city region and nationally, as infection rates keep decreasing and more people are vaccinated against the virus.

More than half the adult population of the city region has now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.