‘Under-reporting’ of deaths in England, claims Sturgeon

CARE home deaths in England may be subject to “under-reporting”, Nicola Sturgeon has claimed.

The Scottish First Minister said she did not believe figures compiled by independent statisticians that suggested a greater problem with Covid-19 care home deaths in Scotland. North of the border, 46 per cent of coronavirus deaths have taken place in care homes, according to National Records of Scotland. According to the Office for National Statistics, the figure for England and Wales is 28.3 per cent. Ms Sturgeon told Sky News: “It is often put to me the death rate, for want of a better expression, in care homes in Scotland is higher than it is in England and I just don’t believe that is the case.”

She pointed to figures for “excess deaths” – the number of extra fatalities expected, compared with averages over previous years – to back up her claim.

“Excess deaths in Scotland overall, but also in care homes, is lower than in England, but more of them in care homes have been attributed to Covid than is the case in England,” she added.

“About 70 per cent, or slightly more than that, of excess deaths in Scotland are attributed to Covid, whereas for some reason it is less than 50 per cent in England. In Scotland, if you die of, say, a stroke but you also happen to have the virus, you will be included in the deaths from Covid. It is not for me to explain England’s figures, but I think here there is, at least on the face of it, a question of under-reporting in England. I am confident Scotland’s figures are robust.”

An ONS spokesperson said: “We are continuing to look at possible reasons for the difference between deaths attributed to Covid-19 in England and Wales and the total deaths in excess of what we would expect. We intend to publish further analysis this coming Friday.”