Responding to the weekly mortality stats from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the week ending 1 May 2020, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Research Sarah Scobie said:
“It is a good sign that we have seen a fall in the number of registered deaths across all settings and every region of England and Wales. This decline goes some way to support the evidence that we have passed the most severe peak of this outbreak.
“But we can’t afford to lose sight of the devastating impact and burden of this continuing crisis. Compared to what we would expect to see based on the last five years, over 40,000 additional people have sadly lost their lives so far this year, 20% above the average. Excess deaths are still far higher than we would hope to see. We still have a long way to go.”
Notes to editors
- The Office for National Statistics weekly mortality statistics are available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending1may2020
- The Nuffield Trust is an independent health think tank. We aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.
- For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Simon Keen on 07805 217935 or simon.keen@nuffieldtrust.org.uk