Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Science & Tech
21 April 2020updated 04 Sep 2021 12:49pm

The death rate from Covid-19 in care homes has quadrupled in one week

Care homes registered 826 deaths in the week ending 10 April, up from 195 the week before. 

The number of people dying from Covid-19 in care homes in England and Wales has more than quadrupled in the space of a week.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows 826 deaths that mentioned the virus on the death certificate were registered in care homes in the week ending 10 April. That was up from 195 deaths registered the week before, and 20 registered in the week to 27 March

The figures show that coronavirus-related deaths in care homes are now rising at a faster rate than those in hospital, though hospital deaths still outstrip care home deaths by a factor of six.

The number of care home deaths that do not mention the virus has also increased. There were 4,101 care home deaths that didn’t mention coronavirus on the death certificate in the week to 10 April, up from 3,574 in the week to 3 April and 2,469 in the week to 27 March. That suggests that the official total of 826 is an undercount of coronavirus-related deaths, and that other deaths are related to the virus either directly or via the pressure Covid-19 is putting on care home resources.

Select and enter your email address Your new guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture each weekend - from the New Statesman. A quick and essential guide to domestic politics from the New Statesman's Westminster team. A weekly newsletter helping you understand the global economic slowdown. The New Statesman’s weekly environment email. Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

The figures on care homes chime with separate data from Public Health England, which monitors respiratory outbreaks as part of its weekly flu reporting. They show a meteoric rise in respiratory outbreaks in recent weeks, with the vast majority occurring in care homes.

Content from our partners
How software will make or break sustainability
Sustainable finance can save us from the energy crisis – with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
How trailblazers are using smart meters to make the move to net zero