London: The coronavirus death toll in care homes for the elderly and vulnerable in England and Wales has doubled in a week. A total of 4,343 fatalities were reported in the past two weeks, according to figures released Tuesday.
Official statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data takes the overall death toll from COVID-19 beyond the 21,092 hospital casualty. All are accumulated as government data.
The data covers figures from healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for the first time and covers the fortnight to April 24.
From April 10 to 17, the CQC were notified of 1,968 deaths and between April 10 and April 24 of 4,343 deaths. This is a rise of 2,375 deaths in a week.
Ring of steel
“This data clearly shows us the importance of tracking the impact of COVID-19 beyond hospitals. It is essential we know what is happening in care homes and wider communities,” said Vic Rayner. He is the executive director of the UK’s ‘National Care Forum’. The body had conducted its own research earlier to demand a ‘ring of steel’ around care homes.
“The numbers revealed today make it more important than ever that we build a ‘ring of steel’ around care homes. They need the right PPE, medical monitoring devices, rapid and comprehensive testing. Also required are proper funding and intensive research to safeguard the people they care for,” said Rayner.
The forum warned that even now this is not ‘real time daily data’. It said the figures are not being included in the overall daily figure quoted by the government.
The government’s figures only cover hospital deaths. The remaining data is collated on a weekly basis after death certificates specifying the cause of death are issued.
Death toll figures may rise
The ONS figures show that the total number of people dying in the UK from all causes in hospitals. It said that if all the data is collated the death toll in the UK could well be over 25,000.
Agencies