England, Scotland and Wales have announced a further 639 victims of the coronavirus outbreak today, taking the official total to 21,731.
But the real death toll may be 55 per cent higher than the Department of Health’s daily updates show, because they don’t include people dying outside of hospitals.
Weekly data shows that deaths outside of hospitals pushed England and Wales’s death toll for April 17 to 22,351, a significant rise on the 14,451 announced on that date by the Department of Health.
If the same increase – 54.6 per cent – were applied to the total death toll confirmed today (21,731) it could mean the real number of victims is more like 33,600.
Office for National Statistics data, which gives a weekly picture of how many people have died outside of hospitals, recorded 3,096 care home deaths in the week from April 11 to April 17. This was almost triple the 1,043 announced the week before.
Many of those who die outside of hospitals are not tested for the coronavirus while alive, meaning this data shows Britain’s outbreak is much larger than it appears. Some are never officially diagnosed and are only suspected to have had the illness.
So many people are being killed by the virus that that week, from April 11 to 17, was the deadliest for England and Wales since records began in 1993 and had a death toll (22,351) more than double the yearly average (10,497).
Four out of every 10 people who died in that week were infected with coronavirus.
The World Health Organization has warned that half of COVID-19 deaths happening in Europe are taking place in nursing homes, and the UK’s count is rising fast.
British officials have faced heavy criticism for not offering enough support to the sector and chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance said they were warned ‘very early on’.
The Office for National Statistics report showed:
NHS England today confirmed 552 more patients had died with COVID-19 in its hospitals between March 19 and April 27.
Patients were aged between 29 and 100 and 213 of the deaths occurred on Sunday, April 26. The 29-year-old did not have any other known health problems.
London accounted for 87 of the deaths announced today (14 per cent), while 55 happened in Midlands, 55 in the North East & Yorkshire, and 41 in the North West.
It has now become clear that the hospital fatalities announced each day only show a fraction of the true outbreak in Britain.
Office for National Statistics data, released once a week and backdated 10 days, provides the most accurate picture because it adds up numbers from all sources – including care homes and private homes – and releases complete records. Those published by the Department of Health and NHS are rolling updates.
The ONSt also counts everyone who has COVID-19 mentioned on their death certificate, whether it has been confirmed with a test or not.
This means it records using a wider net than the NHS – it may include some wrong diagnoses but also include those who would never normally have been tested.
The downside to the data, however, is that it is backdated and takes a long time to record, meaning it’s 10 days out of date by the time it gets published.
It also does not include Scotland or Northern Ireland, which have their own records.
In a bid to speed up recording, the sector regulator the Care Quality Commission has also been drafted in to collect reports of confirmed and suspected deaths caused by COVID-19.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
