Kent Covid -19 deaths compared to non-covid-19 deaths in Kent & England and Wales

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) published their most up to date data yesterday for all deaths due to Covid-19; and all other deaths across all local authorities in Kent (including Medway) who died up to April 10. The figures show all deaths in Kent registered by April 18.

The two charts below show covid-19 deaths and then all deaths for the week starting 29th March and ending on 18th April (weeks 12 -15), as this is when covid-19 deaths were registered with ONS. Looking at the stats this way allows a like for like comparison with all deaths across all Kent local authorities, including Medway.

The districts which have suffered from the most deaths due to covid-19 to date are Medway with 26% followed by Sevenoaks with 21.7%, then Dartford with 21.4%.

Put another way one in four deaths which occured in Medway was a covid-19 death. For Sevenoaks and Dartford this was approximately one in five deaths.

The Districts which suffered the least from Covid-19 deaths to date are Tunbridge Wells with 8.2% of deaths, followed by Canterbury 11.8% and then Folkestone & Hythe with 12.1%.

This means for these districts one in ten deaths approximately  was attributable to covid-19

The graph belows shows the deaths as recorded by ONS for Kent local authorities. The red is covid-19 deaths and the blue the normal amount of deaths which occur in Kent including Medway on a weekly basis. The last three stacked red bars are deaths which have occurred in addition to normal deaths in all locations; eg care home, hospital, hospice etc.

Again the data for all deaths shows more people have died in hospital for all causes of death eg, Influenza, Pneumonia, Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack, etc, they make up 42%, followed by those in care homes 28% and then those who die at home 22%.

When one excludes Kent from the rest of England & Wales one can see the additional deaths from covid-19 stretching the NHS, care home, etc, as there have been an additional 6,299 deaths due to covid-19.

And looking exclusively at London Boroughs as covid-19 represents nearly 50% of all deaths in week 14, but the rise in the Other Causes figures suggests covid-19 as a cause of death might well be under-reported.

The steep rise in deaths by other causes that accompanies the rise in Covid deaths suggests either that in week 15, 100 additional people were dying per day (700/week) as an indirect effect of the Covid-19 emergency, or perhaps that a proportion of those were undiagnosed Covid-19 victims, in which case the Covid-19 % is even higher than reported.

The ONS numbers are based on the local authority area where the deceased person lived. Their data is also based on all registered deaths where people had Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate as a listed cause of death, even if it was suspected, although it may not be the main cause of death, it may have been contributory factor.

While confirmed hospital deaths in Kent from ONS numbers are lower compared to NHS England figures, overall deaths provided by the ONS for England and Wales are far higher than previously reported by the NHS daily figures.

All of the Shepwayvox Team extend their thanks and gratitude to all NHS staff, all carers in care homes and hospices, to family members who looked after loved ones in their homes for helping all the people represented in the charts above. The thanks you are all owed is immeasurable.

The numbers above are not just numbers, they represent a real person who has passed away because of covid-19, or for other health reasons. Each of them have family, loved ones and friends. To each of you, wherever you are in Kent or Medway, we extend our deepest condolences to you, as we understand many of you will not have been able to be with them at the end.

The one comfort we can all take from the persons passing is that each of them received the most powerful drug in the world – kindness. It work’s for everyone, it’s hard to get the dose wrong, and it’s free at the point of delivery. Thanks to all those who have delivered that throughout this crisis.

The Shepwayvox Team

Stay At Home – Protect The NHS – Save Lives