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Deaths in England and Wales hit 20 year high due to COVID-19 fatalities

pharmafile | April 21, 2020 | News story | Manufacturing and Production COVID-19, COVID-19 UK, coronavirus, coronavirus uk 

Deaths in England and Wales have hit a 20 year high, boosted by fatalities from the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The Office for National statistics said there were 8,000 more deaths than usual for this time of year. There were 18,500 deaths over the last week with over 6,200 being linked to coronavirus. Other factors that may have contributed to an increase is the lockdown having an indirect impact on health.

Nick Stripe, the Head of Health Analysis, told the BBC that people could be dying from illnesses that go untreated due to not being able to access hospital treatment. Stripe also said you have to go back to January 2000 to see a higher number of deaths in one week and the current number is probably higher due to death recording facilities being closed due to the Easter weekend.

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Since the pandemic started there have been over 1,000 deaths in care homes, 466 in private homes, 87 in hospices, 21 in other communal establishments and 45 elsewhere. Scotland is seeing a similar trend with nearly 2,000 deaths in the week leading up to 12 April.

Deaths are likely to continue increasing as the World Health Organization has warned that “the worst is yet ahead of us.”

Conor Kavanagh

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