‘27% of deaths in care homes involved virus’
MORE than 25% of deaths in care homes in England and Wales between March and May involved coronavirus, new data from the Office for National Statistics has shown.
In Wales, since January to May 1, 522 care home residents have died after either testing positive for the virus or showing symptoms.
Across England and Wales, the overall total number of coronavirus-related deaths in care homes is 12,526, which accounts for 27.3% of all deaths of care home residents.
These numbers include cases where the certifying doctor suspected the death was linked to the virus but a test had not been conducted. They also include the deaths of care home residents who died in hospital.
Out of the 12,526 deaths involving Covid-19 in care home residents, 11,371 were classified as confirmed and/or tested positive.
The new data also shows a worrying rise in the overall number of deaths in Wales’ care homes when compared to the same time period in 2019. There have been almost 1,000 more care home resident deaths in Wales between the months of January and May 2020, compared to last year’s figures.
This is despite there being only 522 registered deaths involving coronavirus in Wales.
By May 1, 2019, there had been just 2,522 deaths among care home residents since December 28, 2018. The provisional data provided by the ONS for 2020 shows that so far this year, 3,445 care home residents have died.
According to the ONS, Covid19 was the leading cause of death in male care home residents in Wales and England between the months of March and May, accounting for 30.3% of deaths. It was the second leading cause of death in female care home residents, after dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 23.5% of deaths.
The data relating to care homes is showing similar trends to overall coronavirus cases in Wales, with places like Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf being the worst-affected.
The area in Wales with the most care home deaths related to coronavirus is Cardiff, where 73 people have died from the virus between March 6 and May 8. RCT has the second-highest total at 61, followed by Newport at 49. This reflects a similar pattern which shows these areas to be some of the worst-affected in Wales.
Other parts of Wales have not seen the virus impact on care homes on the same scale, with the Isle of Anglesey reporting only one coronavirus-linked death between the same months and Ceredigion reporting none. Across England and Wales, Wales has the lowest number of deaths involving Covid-19 among care home residents. The highest recorded was in the south-east region of England.