More than a thousand coronavirus-related care home deaths registered – ONS

There were more than a thousand coronavirus-related care home deaths registered up to April 10, up from 217 the week before, official figures show.

Latest weekly figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 1,662 deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales registered up to April 10 which occurred outside hospitals.

The equivalent figure for hospitals deaths over the period is 8,673.

Of the deaths outside hospitals 1,043 took place in care homes, 466 in private homes, 87 in hospices, 21 in other communal establishments and 45 elsewhere

The ONS said the numbers are based on where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

A total of 406 deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales registered up to April 3 occurred outside of hospitals, according to provisional ONS figures – around 10% of the total.

Of these, 217 were registered in care homes, 33 in hospices, 136 in private homes, three in other communal establishments and 17 elsewhere.

This week’s figures show the proportion of deaths outside hospitals has risen to 16%, with 83.9% (8,673 deaths) occurring in hospitals.

The ONS figures also show there were 12,516 deaths involving Covid-19 in England up to April 10 (and which were registered up to April 18), compared with 10,260 deaths in hospitals in England for the same period, reported by NHS England.

The ONS total is 22% higher than the total published by NHS England.

This is because the ONS figures include all mentions of Covid-19 on a death certificate, including suspected Covid-19, as well as deaths in the community.

The NHS figures only include deaths in hospitals where a patient has been tested for Covid-19.

Overall, 13,121 deaths involving Covid-19 have occurred in England and Wales up to April 10, and registered up to April 18.

This is 41% higher than the 9,288 people who died in UK hospitals during the same period reported by the Department of Health.

Of the deaths registered in the week ending April 10, 6,213 mentioned “novel coronavirus (Covid-19)”, which is around a third (33.6%) of all deaths.

This is up from 3,475 (21.2% of all deaths) last week.

The steep rise in Covid-19-related care home deaths has caused the overall number of care home deaths to double in four weeks, the ONS said.

Between when the first Covid-19 deaths were registered, and the week ending April 10, the number of deaths in care homes has doubled from 2,471 deaths to 4,927.

Over the same period, there has been a 72.4% increase in deaths occurring in hospitals (4,975 deaths to 8,578), and a 51.1% increase in deaths occurring in private homes (2,725 deaths to 4,117).

Overall, deaths in care homes made up more than a quarter (26.6%) of all deaths registered in the week ending April 10.

From April 28, the ONS will publish counts of deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes, based on deaths reported by care home operators to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).