Coronavirus-related deaths were about 41 per cent higher in England and Wales than the government's hospital-only figures in the week up to April 10, according to official data released on Tuesday (21).
The latest figures, which was released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), shows that there were 1,662 deaths involving the coronavirus in England and Wales registered up to April 10 that happened outside of hospitals.
Overall, 13,121 deaths related to COVID-19 occurred in England and Wales, which is higher than the 9,288 people who died in UK hospitals during the same period reported by the Department of Health.
The UK-wide hospital death toll from COVID-19 stands at 16,509, which care homes and hospices have repeatedly flagged as a lower estimate due to deaths within the wider community not being counted in on a daily basis.
The disparity is because the ONS statistics include all mentions of COVID-19 on a death certificate and deaths in the community, while NHS England only include deaths in hospitals where a patient has been tested for the virus.
Labour's shadow social care minister Liz Kendall said the figures demonstrate the "terrible toll" that the virus is having on elderly and disabled people in care homes.
"Yet these awful figures are only scratching the surface of the emerging crisis in social care, because they are already 11 days out of date," said Kendall.
"The government must now publish daily figures of COVID-19 deaths outside hospital, including in care homes, so we know the true scale of the problem. This is essential to tackling the spread of the virus, ensuing social care has the resources it needs and getting vital PPE and testing to care workers on the frontline,” she said.
The ONS also revealed there were 18,500 deaths in the week up to 10 April – about 8,000 more than is normal at this time of year. More than 6,200 were linked to coronavirus, a sixth of which were outside of hospital.
But deaths from other causes also increased, suggesting the lockdown may be having an indirect impact on health.
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis, said they were trying to understand what had been happening with this increase in non-coronavirus deaths.
"Each one is a person. Each one has a family. We must always remember this," he said.
The ONS data is different from the daily death figures which are announced by the government and looks at deaths in hospitals where a person is infected with coronavirus.
The ONS figures rely on death certificates where the cause or contributory factors are listed.
As a result, the figures lag behind the government figures but give a fuller picture of what is happening in UK society.
They cover deaths in all situations – care homes and the community as well as hospitals – and so the figures are about a fifth higher than the government figures show.
Dimps Sanghani
