How is the UK coronavirus death toll recorded?

The COVID-19 UK death toll is recorded daily - here's how
Ewan Somerville4 June 2020

The UK’s coronavirus death toll continues to rise each day.

The current total of fatalities linked to Covid-19 in the UK is almost 40,000, however many other figures have been quoted.

All the while, behind each number is a grieving family that has lost a loved one.

Here we take a look at how the UK’s coronavirus death figures are calculated and which numbers to trust.

How does the government record the daily coronavirus death toll?

Each day the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) compiles deaths in hospitals and the community linked to coronavirus, which are grouped together into one figure.

The UK added virus deaths in care homes into daily updates at the end of April 
Getty Images

Hospital patients are tested and therefore we know those fatalities definitely had Covid-19.

However, deaths in the community - those in care homes or who died at home - have Covid-19 on their death certificate but did not always test positive before their death

Health authorities in each part of the UK also release their own figures to show regional breakdowns.

None of the current publicly available data tells us the extent to which coronavirus caused each death, though, as opposed to underlying health conditions, for instance.

Has the system changed?

Yes. Up until the end of April, only deaths linked to the virus in hospitals were being recorded.

This changed to give the truer picture after growing public concern about the crisis in care homes.

However, the official Government data has a lag due to the time it takes for post-mortem examinations, test results and death certificates to be processed, meaning some of the deaths being announced now occurred several weeks ago.

An analysis of the current registrations of people who have died with confirmed or suspected coronavirus by the PA news agency suggests the figure has passed 50,000.

Countries record their coronavirus deaths differently 
PA

How do other countries record their death toll?

Comparing coronavirus fatality rates across countries is very difficult because there are a range of different factors and recording systems that collide.

The US has by far the most Covid-19 deaths in the world, at more than 109,000, but it has a population of 330 million - more than the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain combined.

Things are further complicated by there being no accepted international standard for how you measure deaths, or their causes, meaning each country does it differently.

France and Germany have been including deaths in care homes in the headline numbers they produce every day since the start of the outbreak.

But the daily figures for England only recorded deaths in hospitals until April 29, when community deaths were included.

Germany counts deaths in care homes only if people have tested positive for the virus, but Belgium includes any death in which a doctor had suspected coronavirus was involved.

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