Nuffield Trust response to weekly ONS registered deaths statistics

Sarah Scobie responds to the latest weekly mortality stats from the Office for National Statistics.

Press release

Published: 24/11/2020

Responding to the weekly mortality stats from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the week ending 13 November 2020, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Research Sarah Scobie said:

“Despite the end of the second national lockdown in England coming into focus, today’s figures are a sobering reminder of the dreadful impact of this virus.

“For the first time since the end of the first wave, over 2,000 Covid deaths have been registered in a single week. We’ve seen a sharp jump in the number of deaths in hospital in the week ending November 13, with Covid now accounting for a third of patients dying in hospital. Deaths in care homes and private homes are also higher than we’d expect at this time of year. 

“This growing number will be piling on the pressure for NHS staff. For some hospitals, particularly in Covid hotspot areas, it will feel as if they are in the depths of winter already. This pressure on services has implications both on the well-being of exhausted staff and the ability to work through the growing waiting list of patients for routine operations and care.”

Notes to editors

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