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NHS England have released the latest figure for reported deaths in hospitals in England – an additional 552 deaths since yesterday.
Prof James Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and University of Oxford, said:
“The number of announced deaths in hospitals, as expected, rose from the low of yesterday due to the delays in reporting. We have still passed the peak of these deaths. The number of new infections is also not surprising, the virus spread is decreasing from a very high level. The fall in numbers in hospital is a key sign that social distancing has worked as expected. The scale of the deaths in care homes is becoming clear from the ONS figure and confirms our fears of a much higher level of suffering. Even before counting these deaths, the UK has been one of the hardest hit in this first wave. Of more concern is a hint in the numbers from the CQC that the number of new deaths in care homes did not plateau on April 8th. It may be that strict lockdown measures have less effect on viral spread amongst those already in care homes where the virus has become established. If true, increased and regular testing for residents and staff may need to prioritised.
“The South Korean model of social distancing and track trace isolate has limited deaths and avoided complete lock down in the wider population, in the first wave. The UK in common with most other rich countries was unable to implement this approach in the first wave. Government focus must be on getting this working here and ours should be maintaining social distancing. Although this may be an option for the UK and other rich countries, it will probably not be possible for many countries.”
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-daily-deaths/
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