COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[Gabriel]

Terrible indeed. Can you or anyone answer me this though. Say I had terminal cancer and was given days to live. I then tested positive for Covid 19. When I pass away am I included in the Covid 19 numbers or not.

Ultimately, yes, I would presume, but the death would also appear on registers for cancer. It's not really about attributing the death to one thing or the other, but instead about developing a more accurate picture of what is occurring, which would be beneficial to have if we face repeated waves. However, that could also lead to situations where doctors now attend care homes (and that could be doctors sent as emergency cover who have no knowledge of the patient) and include Covid-19 as a factor on the death certificate just to be safe.

Do we know if samples are being taken post-mortem to test later?

 

[Marvin]

Care home deaths can not be hidden because deaths are being recorded albeit they are delayed. The ONS records all deaths and the all case mortality will be visible leaping out in the data.

 

[grunge]

Terrible indeed. Can you or anyone answer me this though. Say I had terminal cancer and was given days to live. I then tested positive for Covid 19. When I pass away am I included in the Covid 19 numbers or not.

I honestly think it depends on the doctor calling it. its going by what is on your death certificate.

 

[Fame Monster]

Spain locked down on March 15th, we locked down March 23rd. So 8 days, not a good fortnight.

We also had the same number of cases at the time of lockdown.

True although they took many stronger measures around a fortnight before us (school/university closures etc) so I think our peak, even though influenced by other factors, will likely come at least a fortnight after their peak.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...cesinenglandandwales/uptoweekending3april2020

The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 3 April 2020 (Week 14) was 16,387; this represents an increase of 5,246 deaths registered compared with the previous week (Week 13) and 6,082 more than the five-year average.

This includes all deaths not hospital only

From the ONS

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

I honestly think it depends on the doctor calling it. its going by what is on your death certificate.

It most definitely, absolutely 100%ely. Will be.

 

[kevin horlocks wand]

Terrible indeed. Can you or anyone answer me this though. Say I had terminal cancer and was given days to live. I then tested positive for Covid 19. When I pass away am I included in the Covid 19 numbers or not.

mate you could jump out of a plane and forget to pack your parachute and test for covid you would still be included in the covid numbers

 

[Chippy_boy]

Care home deaths can not be hidden because deaths are being recorded albeit they are delayed. The ONS records all deaths and the all case mortality will be visible leaping out in the data.

I've not really followed this, so forgive me if it's a dumb question...

But are we testing everyone who dies in the UK? I didn't think we were? And if we are not, then we cannot possibly record all the COVID-19 deaths can we? I mean "Mrs Jones has been ill for some time and lately developed a bit of a cough and has sadly passed. So we'll put her down as another COVID-19 death" doesn't really cut it.

 

[Fame Monster]

mate you could jump out of a plane and forget to pack your parachute and test for covid you would still be included in the covid numbers

Would they test you for COVID though if you died in them circumstances? I thought they only test for COVID if the body shows signs of it?

 

[meltonblue]

Care home deaths can not be hidden because deaths are being recorded albeit they are delayed. The ONS records all deaths and the all case mortality will be visible leaping out in the data.

My bosses mum died in a care home last week. She had dementia and had been in hospital for a while before, she got tested positive a couple of days before and seemingly had gotten over it but then deteriorated rapidly. The day after she died, the doctor called him and asked if he was ok with them putting Covid on the death certificate as they wanted to make sure all are tracked, even if there were other significant factors.

You're right they are delayed though, he's still waiting for the death certificate (which has the impact of not being able to arrange the funeral either).

The sheer volume involved at the minute though, there will be delays in all stages of the process - the numbers ultimately are the least important thing to me. They will get amended eventually.