Responding to the weekly mortality stats from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the week ending 8 January 2021, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Research Sarah Scobie said:
“While part of the striking rise in weekly mortality figures can be explained by delayed registrations over the Christmas period, the numbers are still heading in a worrying direction. Sadly, this was expected as we saw cases rapidly rise throughout December.
“Over a third of deaths registered are attributed to Covid-19, with Covid-19 accounting for over half of hospital deaths, putting real pressure on services. We may not see a jump like this next week, but there will be further increases in these tragic numbers as the surge in cases from December translate into some people becoming very unwell, and in some cases unfortunately dying.
“We are beginning to see a welcome fall in the number of cases now due in part to the third national lockdown – we’ll need to wait a few weeks to see this begin to pull mortality figures down.”
Notes to editors
- The Office for National Statistics weekly mortality statistics are available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending8january2021
- 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.
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