Coronavirus: Actual death rate from COVID-19 ‘50% higher’ than government numbers

Thousands more people have been dying from coronavirus than reported by the government.

coronavirus death rate has been 52% higher than official figures supplied by the Department of Health.” data-reactid=”29″ type=”text”>New data shows the actual coronavirus death rate has been 52% higher than official figures supplied by the Department of Health.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday show how the actual number of deaths in England and Wales on 3 April was 6,235, compared to 4,093 reported by the government.” data-reactid=”30″ type=”text”>Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday show how the actual number of deaths in England and Wales on 3 April was 6,235, compared to 4,093 reported by the government.

Every afternoon, the Department of Health has been reporting highly-publicised death tolls – including for Scotland and Northern Ireland – such as this tweet for 3 April.

UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK:

As of 9am 4 April, a total of 183,190 people have been tested of which 41,903 tested positive.

As of 5pm on 3 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 4,313 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/XOGZ8TvAOR

— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 4, 2020

Meanwhile, on some days in the week up to 3 April, the true death toll in England and Wales was more than 100% higher than the official government number.

For example, the latest ONS stats show 3,034 deaths happened on 29 March, whereas the government reported 1,346.

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world” data-reactid=”39″ type=”text”>Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area” data-reactid=”40″ type=”text”>Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading” data-reactid=”41″ type=”text”>6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

Every day, at about 2pm, the Department of Health has been providing an official COVID-19 death toll.

This is widely accepted to be lower than the actual number of deaths because of reporting delays and the Department of Health only accounting for deaths in hospitals.

However, the latest data from the ONS takes into account each date of death in England and Wales up to 3 April, including those which happened outside hospitals.

This enables the comparison with the government’s official figures, with the huge differences also demonstrating the difficulty in identifying when the peak of the virus will strike – or if it has done so already.

The ONS said: “The figures published on Gov.uk are valuable because they are available very quickly and give an indication of what is happening day by day. Their definition is also clear, so the limitations of the data can be understood.

“But they do not include all deaths involving COVID-19, such as those in England that are not in a hospital, or where no test result was available.”

It added: “Numbers produced by the ONS take longer to prepare, because they have to be certified by a doctor, registered and processed. But once ready, they are the most accurate and complete information.”

Meanwhile, the ONS said 406 deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales registered up to April 3 occurred outside of hospitals.

This included 217 in care homes, 33 in hospices and 136 in homes.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter” data-reactid=”56″ type=”text”>Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter