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Comparing different approaches to Covid-19 containment | 56 comments (56 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: The politicisation of death (4.00 / 3)
Pushed by media reports about increasing death tolls in nursing homes around the country, the French government has been providing two mortality figures during its daily briefing for the past two weeks now: deaths in hospitals and deaths in nursing homes.

As of tonight, April 22, the figures are:

  • Deaths in hospitals: 13,236 (+336 in the last 24 hours)
  • Deaths in nursing homes: 8,104 (+208 in the last 24 hours)

A total of 21,340 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Today's fatalities number for the UK is: 18,100 (+759), but these are only the deaths in NHS hospitals; nursing homes deaths are still not tallied.

In international comparisons, France is always shown ahead of the UK because of the higher "total" figures. However, counting only the hospital deaths in the UK is skewing the comparison as you point out: by that figure (deaths in hospitals) the UK has been well ahead of France for over a week now.

The other extreme is Belgium where just about any death that can be attributed to C-19 is counted, which gives the country one of the highest rates of deaths per million of total population.

As you pointed out, counting, undercounting, not counting, all these follow different political motives; mostly trying to hide the lack of preparation and slow responses under the carpet.

by Bernard (bernard) on Wed Apr 22nd, 2020 at 08:32:29 PM EST
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Re: The politicisation of death (none / 1)
That's why I keep posting the ONS stats, because they're far more likely to be reliable. Although they're still underreporting the true picture, because they don't include figures for Scotland or Ni.

At a minimum the UK is well over 30,000 deaths by now, and the true total could easily be twice that - which puts it second only to the US, with around a fifth of the population.

Scandal doesn't begin to cover it. But here we are - with a far-right political culture that thinks PR, flag-waving bullshit, and impression management are the hallmarks of effective government.

As long as they're in place practical details will look after themselves. And if they don't it doesn't matter - as long as you control the narrative.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Apr 23rd, 2020 at 12:21:37 AM EST
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Comparing different approaches to Covid-19 containment | 56 comments (56 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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