Daily briefings by practically all major international Governments and minute-by-minute updating of death tallies on news websites around the world keep providing us with a source of unlimited information on the development of the pandemic. However, this constant flow of daily data is precluding us from stepping back and looking at the bigger picture and take a snapshot of a specific period in time.
Today, the National Statistics Office (ONS) of the UK noted that in the week ending 3rd April, it received notifications for 16,387 deaths. That number was 6,082 higher than the average for that week in the past five years. Yet, even that number does not show the true picture, because at least 2,000 deaths were reported as coronavirus-related by the NHS at a later stage.
These numbers, if any confirmation was needed, show that the coronavirus pandemic is significantly worse than any flu epidemic to have latched onto British shores in the past years.
Nick Stripe, head of life events at the ONS, said: “The 16,387 deaths that were registered in England and Wales during the week ending 3 April is the highest weekly total since we started compiling weekly deaths data in 2005.”
Under reporting of deaths suspected
The Department of Health publishes daily the number of hospital deaths announced that day from patients who had previously tested positive for the virus. However, the Department typically corrects these figures once further tests are carried out, particularly on patients who perish within a few hours from their hospitalisation. Over and above, UK media today was dominated by news relating to possible under-reporting of coronavirus deaths. These suspicions arise from the fact that Britain is reporting a far lower of non-hospital deaths related to the virus when compared to its European counterparts.
Sir David Behan, director of HC-One, Britain’s largest care home operator, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that Covid-19 was present in more than 65% of its homes, and represented at least 33% of deaths registered in the past few weeks.
Restricted data over the Easter period may yet increase these glum figures further.
