Covid-19 Deaths in England Are 15% Higher Than NHS Reports
Covid-19 Deaths in England Are 15% Higher Than NHS Reports
(Bloomberg) --
Deaths involving Covid-19 in England are running 15% higher than the number reported by the National Health Service.
The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that 5,979 deaths up to April 3 had been registered by April 11. That compares with the 5,186 reported by NHS England, a number which is itself revised several days after the official daily tally from hospitals.
The discrepancy is important because the government is using data on deaths, hospital admissions and the impact of social-distancing measures to plan its response to the pandemic and eventually ease a nationwide lockdown.
The ONS figures provide the most complete picture because they include deaths outside hospitals, such as in hospices, care homes and private residences. But they are also an estimate, because they tally all mentions of Covid-19 on death certificates, including without confirmed tests for the coronavirus.
Still, the data paint a revealing picture of the impact of the virus. The 16,387 total deaths registered in England and Wales during the week ending April 3 was the highest weekly total since comparable data began being compiled in 2005, according to the ONS. In London, 46.6% of deaths registered that week involved Covid-19.
When compared with the daily death toll published by the Department of Health and Social Care, the difference with the ONS figures is even more stark. The government reported 4,093 deaths in England and Wales as of April 3, compared with 6,235 in the ONS figures.
“Daily figures are valuable because they give a quick indication of what is happening in hospitals day by day,” the ONS said in a statement. “ONS figures are the most complete because they include deaths in the community; however they take longer to process as they must be medically certified and registered before processing.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.