Care home death toll likely to go up, says top health official
Care homes in rural areas are where the toughest battles against the pandemic are being fought and the people who work there are my personal heroes, including the people who looked after my own father-in-law in his last lonely hours this week. This story tells us:
The number of deaths from coronavirus in care homes may have to be revised upwards, a senior Public Health England official has admitted, as the government confirmed the total number of deaths from the pandemic has risen to more than 26,000.
After indicating that deaths in care homes and in the community may still be rising, Yvonne Doyle, PHE’s medical director, told Wednesday’s daily Downing Street press briefing the figure for deaths may be revised again.
“In due course those deaths sadly may occur on death certificates, so we may expect more than we are seeing at the moment, yes,” she said.
Doyle’s words followed the announcement that 26,097 patients had died across the UK after testing positive for coronavirus. That was 3,811 deaths more than the figure available on Tuesday, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said.