The number of deaths involving Covid-19 registered in England and Wales has fallen for the third week in a row, as the countries battle rising Omicron cases.

Some 792 deaths were registered in the week to December 3 where “novel coronavirus” was mentioned on the death certificate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

This represents 6.8% of all deaths registered over the seven-day period and is a 3% fall from the previous week when 817 deaths were recorded.

The Omicron variant is spreading rapidly, with case numbers thought to be doubling every two to three days.

It is too early to see what impact the rise will have in the weekly ONS data on Covid-19 deaths.

So far, the Government has confirmed one patient has died with the new variant.

The weekly figures show that while registered coronavirus deaths fell overall, they rose in five out of nine regions in England.

Some 67 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to December 3, down from 75 in the previous week.

In total, 44,341 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.

Overall, 172,695 deaths have occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.