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More than 150,000 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, according to the Guardian analysis.
The latest figures reveal that at least one in three recorded deaths from Covid-19 has occurred in the past three months, with 54,445 deaths officially counted on death certificates in the UK since the start of 2021. That means that one in 445 people have died from the disease. virus since the start of the pandemic.
Christina Pagel, professor of operations research at University College London, said: “The death toll is no surprise given the ferocity of the second wave, but you can’t see it as anything but a failure of public health policy. There are countries that have much lower death rates and it was not inevitable. We had more deaths in the second wave than in the first wave and it really shouldn’t have been the case.
The toll for the second wave was higher, with 56,735 30-day deaths on either side of the peak, compared to 44,235 in the same time frame in the first wave, according to figures from the Office’s UK death certificates for National Statistics. Coronavirus deaths also hit a new high in early January when 1,465 deaths were recorded across the UK on January 19, 2021, a figure similar to the previous record daily toll of 1,459 deaths just over nine months earlier, the April 8, 2020.
Pagel said the government risked a further rise in cases if it did not learn from previous waves. “We are already repeating some of these mistakes,” she said. “We have opened schools under exactly the same conditions we opened them last time, and cases are increasing.
“What the government hopes is that the vaccinations will compensate for the reopening [of schools and hospitality], and they could. It’s just that if they had done the things that we should have done in terms of isolation, ventilation and maintenance of cases, we would be in a much better position. At the moment, we rely entirely on our immunization program and, as we see now, it is quite vulnerable to international supply issues over which we have little control.
Pagel called on the government to do more to financially support people who need to isolate and promote better indoor ventilation practices to avoid further increases in rates of Covid cases.
The most recent death toll stands at 150,011, according to the Guardian analysis. The latest figures from statistical agencies show that there have been 149,207 deaths for which Covid-19 was noted on the death certificate across the UK and an additional 804 deaths that have occurred since these records were updated, on the basis of the 28-day government measure.
How deaths are calculated and communicated has been difficult throughout the pandemic. In the first months of 2020, the government opted for a metric counting any death for which the individual had tested positive for the virus at any time in the past as a coronavirus death. However, after concerns were raised about this approach, the current method was adopted, whereby only people who died within 28 days of a positive test are included in the government’s death toll. This figure now stands at 126,573.
However, the figures on the cause of death are usually based on what is recorded on the death certificate, which is published by the three statistical agencies in the UK. The Guardian figure brings together data on coronavirus deaths from the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency by date of death. The figure is then updated by adding the latest government figures on coronavirus deaths that have occurred since the previous statistical release.
Deaths from Covid-19 have been declining in England and Wales since February, according to ONS figures. There were 1,501 Covid deaths recorded in the week leading up to March 12, down 29% from the previous week.
Professor David Spiegelhalter, president of the Winton Center for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is a dark stage that puts us among the worst in the world. But deaths are now below the five-year average: This is in part due to a mild winter, a predictable absence of the flu, and the fact that many people who would otherwise die died when the first wave hit the elderly and vulnerable. , especially in nursing homes. The current death deficit represents the shadow of those who were kidnapped early. “
Excessive deaths, which count the number of deaths from all causes above the previous five-year average, shows that deaths in hospitals and nursing homes have fallen below average in the most recent figures. However, deaths in private homes remain high, with the number of people dying at home in England and Wales 30% above average in the week to March 12, according to figures from the ONS.
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