The new stats show there were 13,121 deaths in England and Wales up to April 10 – compared to the 9,288 announced at the time.
The difference is down to deaths that happened outside hospital – including at care homes, hospices and private homes – as well as delays in recording fatalities.
According to the figures, 84% of coronavirus deaths happened in hospital, while 16% happened outside, including 12% in care homes.
The total number of deaths in care homes DOUBLED in the four weeks after the first Covid-19 death in the UK was recorded.
In that week, before coronavirus spread, just under 2,500 care home residents died from a range of causes.
That increased by almost 100% by the week up to April 10 as covid outbreaks took hold at care homes.
Key findings from today:
- Deaths in England and Wales hit a 20-year high after recording 10,000 more fatalities than normal at this time of year
- A third of all UK deaths in that week were down to coronavirus
- More than half of deaths – 53.2% – recorded in London were due to coronavirus
- The West Midlands is also one of the worst hit with 37% of deaths involving the bug
- One in six coronavirus fatalities occurred in care homes, private homes and hospices
- The total number of deaths in care homes doubled by 2,456 deaths in four weeks
Care England just last week raised concerns the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes could be as high as 7,500.
And former pensions minister Baroness Altmann blasted residents had been “abandoned like lambs to the slaughter” amid the crisis.
Today Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board: “Today’s sad and shocking figures highlight just what a severe challenge we face in care homes and other community settings.
“Council social care staff and care homes need urgent access to reliable and ongoing supplies of quality PPE, increased rapid and comprehensive testing and greater support with staffing and other equipment, on an equal footing with the NHS.”
New data from the Office of National Statistics show coronavirus was listed on the death certificates of 10,335 people by April 10.
But recording a death can take several days and once deaths that occurred up to April 10 but registered by April 18 are taken into account, the number rises to 13,121.
This is 41% higher than the 9,288 announced by the Department of Health on April 11.
Yesterday, the health department announced 16,509 people have died from coronavirus in the UK. If the same lag in recording still applies, 6,800 deaths are yet to be reported.
This suggests more than 23,000 people may have already died.
Of the deaths registered by April 10, 83.9% (8,673 deaths) occurred in hospital, while 16% (1,662 deaths) happened outside.
Of the 1,622 deaths outside of hospital, 1,043 fatalities were in care homes, 466 in private homes, 87 in hospices, 21 in other communal establishments and 45 elsewhere.
The same breakdown for Covid-19 deaths that occurred up to April 10 but registered by April 18 is not yet available.
This comes as there are concerns that there could be a shortage of face masks for NHS workers due to the public buying them.
Across England and Wales, the total number of deaths hit a 20-year high after 18,500 were recorded – 10,000 more than normal at this time of year.
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis, told the BBC the increase in non-coronavirus deaths could be due to patients avoiding hospital treatment.
But he said it could take “years to work out”.
The ONS stats showed that a third of all deaths in the week up to April 10 were down to coronavirus – almost three weeks after Boris Johnson put the UK into lockdown to stop the spread.
In London, more than half of all deaths registered involved the deadly bug.
The West Midlands also continued to emerge as a worrying hotspot, with 37 per cent of all deaths in the region involving coronavirus.
It comes as…
- Britain will have to live with many coronavirus restrictions throughout 2020
- Oil prices have plummeted to negative figures for the first time in history
- 140,000 firms applied for furlough schemes for 1million workers on the first day of the initiative
- Stella McCartney – worth around £60million – became the latest celeb to furlough staff
- Desperate officials scrambled an RAF plane to Turkey yesterday to collect a delayed delivery of gowns — but it could still be sat on the tarmac for days
It came as it was today revealed ministers were planning to adopt a “suck it and see” to slowly see what works to end the coronavirus restrictions.
Instead of any clean end to lockdown, senior government figures last night braced the nation to expect a very long path out of it through the summer and deep into the autumn.
No10 officials now refer to what happens after the current three week extension that ends on May 7 as “next phase”.
A “suck it and see” plan is now being drawn up based on scientists’ data crunching to see what restrictions to try easing first.
One senior figure told The Sun: “We will try a bit at a time, and then pause, so we can see what effect that has on the transmission rate. The pace will be very gradual”.
It emerged yesterday that Britain’s coronavirus strategy is now closest to France’s, which has a similar infection path.
On Sunday night, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced that cafes and restaurants will remain closed for months and masks are likely to become mandatory on public transport.
While saying supermarkets can reopen next month, Mr Phillipe added: “Our life from May 11 will not be like our life before, not immediately, and probably not for a long time.
“We’ll have to learn to live with the virus.”
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond last night warned he expects Britain will suffer a “U shaped” Covid economic slowdown.
He told a Chatham House webinar: “I think those forecasting a V shape recovery are probably erring on the side of optimism.”
Credit: www.thesun.co.uk
