UK coronavirus death toll may be 15% higher than reported as shock figures reveal fatalities outside hospitals

THE grim coronavirus death toll could be 15 per cent higher than reported as almost 800 hidden deaths outside of hospital in England were today revealed.

New official figures show 21 per cent of all deaths in England and Wales up to April 3 were caused by the killer bug.

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And in England up to April 3 - but registered up to April 11 - 5,979 mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate, compared with 5,186 deaths in hospitals in the same period.

That means 793 more people in the country have died outside of hospital as a result of coronavirus - 15 per cent more than the current estimate.

Key findings from today:

• More people died in UK in week up to April 3 than any other week since records began
• More than one in five of those deaths were down to coronavirus
• Almost half of deaths in London that week were from Covid-19
• One in ten coronavirus deaths registered up to April 3 were outside hospital
• Almost two-thirds of these were in care homes or hospices
• England's coronavirus death toll jumped by 15% when deaths outside hospital were included
• If that trend continues, yesterday's UK death toll would jump from 11,329 to more than 13,000

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS, who collated the figures, said: “When looking at data for England, this is 15 per cent higher than the NHS numbers as they include all mentions of COVID-19 on the death certificate, including suspected COVID-19, as well as deaths in the community.

“The 16,387 deaths that were registered in England and Wales during the week ending 3 April is the highest weekly total since we started compiling weekly deaths data in 2005.”

The ONS collects figures where Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

Covid-19 was listed as a factor in 21 per cent per cent of all deaths in England and Wales in the week leading up to April 3 but registered to April 11 - a total of 6,235.

A total of 16,387 deaths were registered in both countries in that time-frame - a rise of 5,246 deaths registered the previous week and 6,082 more than the five-year average.

It comes as coronavirus deaths in care homes exploded tenfold in a week, with an ex-minister warning vulnerable residents have been ";abandoned like lambs to the slaughter".

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann, who has long campaigned for dignity for the elderly, also said the crisis showed how some of society's most vulnerable were being unfairly treated.

And more than 300 residents have died of suspected coronavirus at one of the UK's largest care home companies, one of its bosses said today.

Sir David Behan, executive chairman of HC One, says 232 - or around two thirds - of the firm's homes have Covid-19 outbreaks, with 2,447 confirmed or suspected cases.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Valance also braced the nation for a “difficult” week of death figures ahead before they expect the fatality rate to begin to slow.

But he said that plateau in coronavirus deaths is likely to last for two to three weeks before we see a fall.

He said "We’re tracking behind Italy - this week we’re going to see a further increase thereafter we should see a plateau.

"That may last for some time before we see a decrease. That’s what we’d expect to see."

Sir Patrick also said that the expected downturn in the death rate would be gradual and could take place over "two or three weeks".

He said: "With the deaths, not only is there a delay but we would expect them to be a much more gradual decrease if you look at other countries.

"That's what we’d expect to go on for two or three weeks but we can’t be absolutely sure."