April 4, 2020

expert reaction to latest figures on COVID-19 cases and deaths

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have announced the latest figures for cases (41,903) of and deaths (4,313) from COVID-19.

Dr Stephen Griffin, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, said:

“Today’s COVID19 figures should be a stark reminder of the profound threat that this epidemic poses to our society. This virus does not discriminate. It can cause severe, sometimes fatal disease in people of all ages and backgrounds. 

“The platitudes and misguided beliefs around COVID19 only affecting the vulnerable or elderly are a sad, selfish excuse for anyone to disregard the current lockdown, or consider that this disease won’t affect them. 

“The youngest victim announced today was a mere 5 years of age, a child denied the chance of living their life. As a parent of children a similar age, I can’t imagine what the family must be going through. My sincere heartfelt condolences go out to them.

“To those that consider themselves exceptional, that it won’t matter if they become infected, or who value country walks in the sunshine this weekend over public health, please remember that this is not just about you. This is about the entire country, and indeed the world. Each one of the people on that dreadful list of fatalities had a name, a life, and they are being mourned. If nothing else, realise that the longer compliance is suboptimal, the longer this epidemic will continue to dominate all our lives. #stayathome”

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, said:

“It should be noted these newly-reported 708 deaths are not specifically deaths from the previous 24 hours. The actual date of these deaths will cover most days over the last 2 weeks and reflects the understandable lag time in Trust reporting to NHS England. Therefore, it is vital not to simply add 708 deaths onto today’s date on the new graph. To properly reflect the time trends in cases and deaths, it is important to use the reporting now published each day by NHS England, noting that previous day’s totals will increase as Trusts report further cases.”

All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink: www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19

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