New data from the Office for National Statistics suggest UK deaths from coronavirus are higher than previously reported
The new data, which are based on death certificates and include people who died outside of hospital, show the number of UK deaths involving Covid-19 is higher than previously reported (210 deaths by 20th March; 40 more than that reported at the time).
Source:
British Medical Journal
SPS commentary:
An expert commenting on the figures notes that there may be a risk of misclassification if a death is listed as caused by Covid-19 but the patient was not tested; equally there may be deaths precipitated by Covid-19 where this was unrecognised. Another noted that figures from different reporting bodies cannot be directly compared with each other, and how “surveillance is about monitoring trends, and this can only be done with consistent data sources.”