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UK Pauses Daily Coronavirus Death Toll Update Over Data Concerns (Reuters)
Reuters via U.S. News and World Report
Reuters Wire Service Content • July 18, 2020, at 7:59 a.m.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Saturday it was pausing its daily update of the death toll from the coronavirus after the government ordered a review into the calculation of the data over concerns the toll might have been exaggerated.
Academics have said the way that Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures in England means they may be distorted compared to other parts of the United Kingdom.
"Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death," a message on the government's website said.
"There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number. We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved."
Britain has been the European country worst hit by the virus, with an official death toll of more 45,000. But the government has said international comparisons are misleading because countries record coronavirus deaths differently.
Academics have said the way that Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures in England means they may be distorted compared to other parts of the United Kingdom.
"Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death," a message on the government's website said.
"There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number. We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved."
Britain has been the European country worst hit by the virus, with an official death toll of more 45,000. But the government has said international comparisons are misleading because countries record coronavirus deaths differently.
A little more at link: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-07-18/uk-pauses-daily-coronavirus-deaths-update-over-potentially-faulty-data?context=amp
3 replies
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Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own health services and collect their own data.
This smells of trying to cook the books yet again - for quite some time, the death totals for England haven't been collected on the same basis as in other parts of the UK, and have at points in the past tended to be underestimates in comparison.
This Guardian article is more accurate (at least it doesn't confuse the UK as a whole with England) and informative:
Daily updates on English Covid-19 deaths paused amid accuracy concerns
Daily updates on the coronavirus death toll in England have been paused amid growing concern that the numbers could have been exaggerated.
A message on the government’s website on Saturday said: “Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death.
“There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number. We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved.”
...
In Scotland there is a 28-day cut-off after which a patient who has tested positive is not automatically considered to have died from the virus. Northern Ireland also uses the 28-day cut-off model.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/18/daily-updates-on-english-covid-19-deaths-paused-amid-accuracy-concerns
Daily updates on the coronavirus death toll in England have been paused amid growing concern that the numbers could have been exaggerated.
A message on the government’s website on Saturday said: “Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death.
“There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number. We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved.”
...
In Scotland there is a 28-day cut-off after which a patient who has tested positive is not automatically considered to have died from the virus. Northern Ireland also uses the 28-day cut-off model.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/18/daily-updates-on-english-covid-19-deaths-paused-amid-accuracy-concerns
Given that the COVID death figures yesterday were Northern Ireland 0, Scotland 0, Wales 1 and England 113, even allowing for the differences in population it's unlikely adjusting the 28-day cut-off will make that much of a dent in the English totals. Maybe this chart will help with comparisons:
