A new report published in the British Medical Journal titled Covid-19: “Staggering number” of extra deaths in community is not explained by covid-19″ has suggested that quarantine measures in the United Kingdom as a result of the new coronavirus may have already killed more UK seniors than the coronavirus has during the months of April and May.
According to the data, Covid-19 only accounts for 10,000 of the 30,000 excess deaths that have been recorded in senior care facilities during the height of the pandemic. The article suggests and also quotes British Health officials stating that these unexplained deaths may have occurred because Quarantine measures have prevented seniors from accessing the health care that they need.
The report was written by Shaun Griffin, a PhD in DNA repair from UCL. He has worked in communications and public affairs roles for 20 years at Wellcome, UK Biobank, Human Tissue Authority and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He is currently at the Association of Medical Research Charities and is vice chair of a research ethics committee.
According to him,
The report also mentions that in Scotland, in the first week after lockdown, a spike in deaths were recorded from all causes.
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The report was written by Shaun Griffin, a PhD in DNA repair from UCL. He has worked in communications and public affairs roles for 20 years at Wellcome, UK Biobank, Human Tissue Authority and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He is currently at the Association of Medical Research Charities and is vice chair of a research ethics committee.
According to him,
David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said that covid-19 did not explain the high number of deaths taking place in the community. At a briefing hosted by the Science Media Centre on 12 May he explained that, over the past five weeks, care homes and other community settings had had to deal with a “staggering burden” of 30 000 more deaths than would normally be expected, as patients were moved out of hospitals that were anticipating high demand for beds.
Of those 30 000, only 10 000 have had covid-19 specified on the death certificate. While Spiegelhalter acknowledged that some of these “excess deaths” might be the result of underdiagnosis, “the huge number of unexplained extra deaths in homes and care homes is extraordinary. When we look back . . . this rise in non-covid extra deaths outside the hospital is something I hope will be given really severe attention.”
He added that many of these deaths would be among people “who may well have lived longer if they had managed to get to hospital.
David Leon, professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, agreed. “Some of these deaths may not have occurred if people had got to hospital,” he said. “How many is unclear. This issue needs urgent attention, and steps taken to ensure that those who would benefit from hospital treatment and care for other conditions can get it.”
The report also mentions that in Scotland, in the first week after lockdown, a spike in deaths were recorded from all causes.
Source