Sharp rise in deaths may not reflect the real story

A TOTAL of 21 coronavirus deaths were announced by Leicester’s hospitals in the weekly update yesterday.

The deaths have been added to University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s (UHL) death toll since July 1.

It is three times the increase that was recorded in the week prior, June 24 to July 1, when seven deaths were announced by UHL.

The figure appears to suggest a steep increase in the number of coronavirus patients dying.

However, the process used to record details of deaths can sometimes lead to delays in them being reported, so deaths which have been recorded over the past seven days have not necessarily occurred within that period.

Information from NHS England shows nine coronavirus-related deaths have occurred since July 1. This could mean that 12 of the deaths reported yesterday pre-date the period.

The update means that 420 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have died when being treated at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General or Glenfield Hospital. A UHL spokesperson said the ages of the latest patients to die range between those in their 50s to those in their 90s.

No further deaths have been recorded by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT), which runs the area’s community hospitals.

The number of patients who died while in LPT’s care since the start of the pandemic is 21.