{"id":11110,"date":"2020-04-24T18:12:32","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T18:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=11110"},"modified":"2022-03-23T13:59:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:59:22","slug":"are-covid-19-deaths-in-northern-ireland-50-higher-than-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/health\/are-covid-19-deaths-in-northern-ireland-50-higher-than-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Are COVID-19 deaths in Northern Ireland 50% higher than Ireland?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A widely shared tweet<\/a> by Gabriel Scally on Wednesday 22 April draws attention to an Irish Times article about the difference in relative COVID-19 death rates across the island of Ireland, and claims that \u201cthe death rate for #COVID19 deaths in hospital (and for all COVID deaths) is 50% higher in Northern Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Scally is a public health physician, visiting professor of public health at the University of Bristol, and is currently president of the epidemiology and public health section of The Royal Society of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Irish Times article<\/a>, published on 22 April, was written by Michael Tomlinson, emeritus professor of social policy at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. Scally\u2019s tweet and Tomlinson\u2019s analysis was also reported in the Irish News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two graphs were prominent in the Irish Times article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the body of the article, Tomlinson writes that \u201cthe graphs show death rates per million of population for the North and the Republic and also hospital-based deaths. In both examples the Republic\u2019s death rate is two-thirds that in the North.\u201d This is emphasised in the article\u2019s sub-heading which states that the \u201cdata shows the Republic\u2019s Covid-19 death rate is two-thirds that in the North\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathematically, if A is two thirds of B, then it follows that B is 50% larger than A. So Scally\u2019s tweeted claim can be assessed directly alongside Tomlinson\u2019s claim in his article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the purposes of this fact check, we examine two claims made on 22 April:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. (Tomlinson) The Republic of Ireland\u2019s COVID-19 death rate is two-thirds of that in Northern Ireland. (Scally) The death rate for COVID-19 deaths is 50% higher in Northern Ireland than Ireland;<\/li>
  2. (Tomlinson) The Republic of Ireland\u2019s COVID-19 hospital death rate is two-thirds of that in Northern Ireland. (Scally) The death rate for COVID-19 deaths in hospital is 50% higher in Northern Ireland than Ireland.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    SUMMARY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n