{"id":10568,"date":"2020-04-14T21:44:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T21:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=10568"},"modified":"2022-03-02T12:26:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T12:26:33","slug":"its-all-about-the-test-counting-covid-19-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/health\/its-all-about-the-test-counting-covid-19-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s all about the test: Counting COVID-19 deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe figures on deaths relate in almost all cases to patients who have died in hospital and who have tested positive for COVID-19. Slight differences in reporting in devolved administrations may mean that they include a small number of deaths outside hospital.\u201d \u2014 Department of Health and Social Care (UK)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[This article is part of the COVID-19 Information Dissemination (COVID-19 ID) Project \u2014<\/span> a partnership between Community Development and Health Network (CDHN)<\/a> and FactCheckNI. Its aim is to improve people\u2019s health literacy about COVID-19 by providing accurate and up-to-date information which will increase knowledge, understanding and confidence and enable people to make good health decisions.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who is and is not being counted in this daily reported figure? What are the regional variations and why? We explain below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two main sets of COVID-19 data are regularly being produced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Daily reports on the deaths of people who had tested positive for the virus (mostly dying in hospital, though may include some people discharged to care homes); and<\/li>
  2. Weekly reports based on the date and registration of death where COVID-19 is mentioned on death certificates no matter where the person died.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Only COVID-19 positive test deaths counted daily<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England) explained<\/a> during a daily press briefing that DHSC figures include all those people who are proven to have coronavirus on testing. He also said that DHSC figures are collected the same way the whole time and are comparable to international figures, such as those published<\/a> by the World Health Organisation<\/a> (WHO), and represent \u201claboratory-confirmed cases\u201d of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    People who die elsewhere, such as in care homes or in the community, may never have been tested for COVID-19. This could be due to a lack of tests, or the lack of a test result before death, but in any case, a doctor may certify the cause or contributory cause of death as being consistent with COVID-19 symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some people who tested positive for COVID-19 in hospital are subsequently discharged and later die out of hospital. Because there is an associated positive test, their deaths are included in figures from devolved administrations if their deaths have been reported back to the health authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For those who were never tested for COVID-19 (or tested negative) and subsequently die, regardless of place, if a doctor deems that coronavirus was a cause of death and records it as such on the death certificate, that death will not be included in the DHSC daily figure but will be included in country\u2019s registration of deaths data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Daily reporting of COVID-19 deaths in Northern Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Public Health Agency (PHA) is publishing daily Surveillance Reports<\/a>, which include the number of deaths of people in Northern Ireland reported to have died within a 24-hour period who had a positive COVID-19 test within the last 28 days (data correct up to 9.15am on the morning of the report being issued). This figure feeds through to the UK total and differs from the England & Wales figure in that it can include deaths outside hospital, for example, following discharge after treatment if these deaths are reported to the PHA. The daily PHA figure \u2014 which is sometimes updated as further information is made available \u2014 does not include any deaths where there was no COVID-19 test (or tested negative).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Department of Health launched<\/a> a COVID-19 dashboard<\/a> on Sunday 19 April that will be updated daily that breaks down COVID-19 test results and deaths by council district as well as charting the availability and usage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Weekly reporting of COVID-19 deaths in Northern Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency (NISRA) publishes figures on all registered deaths every Friday<\/a> and refers to the week ending the previous Friday, a lag time of seven days. These are the definitive official statistics on the total number of deaths where COVID-19 is mentioned in free-form text on the death certificate. The figures remain provisional until the quarterly National Statistics are published, as there can sometimes be a delay in registration. Traditionally, these figures are based on the date of registration of the death, rather than the date of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From 17 April 2020, the NISRA weekly statistical bulletin<\/a> on deaths registered in Northern Ireland looked at the date of deaths (not the date of registration). NISRA reported that up to Friday 10 April there were a total of 157 COVID-19-related deaths registered in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Information provided on death certificates allowed the place of death to be broken down as follows (for deaths up to 10 April):<\/p>\n\n\n\n