New figures from the ONS this morning reveal that the number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 26 June was 360 fewer than the previous week. Significantly it’s also 314 fewer than the five-year average number of deaths for this week of the year…

Fewer people dying than normal may indicate that Covid merely accelerated deaths that would have taken place later in the year. If this is sustained the year’s ‘excess death’ total will decline from the number it has reached already. Good news.

Local Government Minister Simon Clarke confirmed yesterday that even the Black Lives Matter mass gatherings did  not result in an increase in overall new cases or the number of fatalities, telling TalkRADIO’s Dan Wooton that “these gatherings happened and there hasn’t been a major resultant spike detectable in the figures.” Perhaps everyone can calm down about the revellers in SoHo on Saturday now…