The dementia death toll

As well as high numbers of Covid-19 deaths, numbers of non-virus fatalities have also jumped

NON-COVID-19 deaths of people with dementia have jumped by 50% during the outbreak.

Between March 7 and May 1, there were 46,380 more deaths registered in England and Wales than the five-year average.

While most of these were coronavirus-related, 28% – 12,900 deaths - did not involve Covid-19.

Of those, two-thirds involved people dying from dementia and Alzheimer's disease or "symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions" (mostly indicating old age and frailty), figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

Overall, there have been 5,404 excess deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease in England and Wales - 52.2% more than the fiveyear average and 1,567 excess deaths due to "symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions" - an increase of 77.8%.

At their peak in the week ending April 17, the numbers of nonCovid-19 deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease and symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions were more than triple five-year averages.

Fiona Carragher, director of policy and influencing at Alzheimer's Society, said: 'We already knew people with dementia have been worst hit by the virus, accounting for a quarter of all the deaths we've seen.

“But this 52% increase in excess deaths of people with dementia during the pandemic is staggering. It is the largest surge in deaths of any health condition.

“There are so many grieving families around the country who need answers. We must understand what's going on here.

“In care homes, we suspect isolation, fewer visitors, the resulting onset of depression, as well as interruption to health services are contributing, but there is surely also underreporting of Covid-19 deaths.”

ONS analysis found deaths for both sexes have risen but deaths for women have risen much faster.

With most deaths of people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in care homes, the pattern appears similar to that seen with seasonal flu, suggesting the rise may be due to undiagnosed Covid-19.

However, the number of these deaths also mentioning flu or respiratory infections, that might be misdiagnosed Covid-19, fell in April, while the number of death certificates that mentioned only dementia and Alzheimer's disease increased.

The ONS suggests the symptoms of Covid-19 might be difficult to distinguish from their underlying illness in someone with advanced dementia and Alzheimer's disease, especially with the possibility of communication difficulties.

Measures to tackle the outbreak have meant disruption to the lives of care home residents, and the ONS said those could be another possible explanation for the increase in the number of deaths.

In an Alzheimer's Society survey, 79% of care homes said the lack of social contact is causing a deterioration in the health and wellbeing of their residents with dementia - with staff saying those in the end stages were declining at a faster rate than normal.