The number of care home deaths linked to coronavirus has risen sharply, new figures show.
Care homes notified the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of 4,343 deaths of residents in homes between April 10 and 24, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
It is the first time the CQC death notifications for suspected or confirmed Covid-19 in care homes have been published.
The new source of care home data comes alongside the ONS’s weekly release, which showed total number of deaths involving Covid-19 in England up to April 17 (and which were registered up to April 25), was 39% higher than the equivalent NHS total.
A very sobering chart from the ONS this morning – confirmation of the impact of COVID-19 on those living in care homes. Important data to guide policy @ONS @NickStripe_ONS pic.twitter.com/W2dSfjQv3w
— Anita Charlesworth (@AnitaCTHF) April 28, 2020
The ONS figures show there were 21,284 deaths involving Covid-19 over that period, compared with 15,293 deaths in hospitals in England for the same period, reported 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 in England and Wales, almost four in 10 deaths up to April 17 (39.2%) were coronavirus-related.
There were 22,351 provisional deaths registered in England and Wales over the seven days – 11,854 more than the five-year average.
