The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK passed 12,000 today. But the real figure is higher. We just don& #39;t know how much higher.

The death toll is bigger than reported, because UK figures exclude deaths in care homes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/care-homes-coronavirus-why-we-dont-know-true-uk-death-toll

with">https://www.theguardian.com/world/202... @niamh_mcintyre

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Elsewhere in Europe around half of deaths are in care homes: 54% in Ireland; 45% in France according to the latest figures. Germany& #39;s numbers are also inclusive of care home deaths.

Italy and Spain do not report deaths in care settings regularly (although estimates exist).

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On 3 April the government reported 4,093 Covid-19 deaths but ONS figures show the true figure was 52% higher.

Some of these deaths will have been included in subsequent daily reports but care home deaths are counted separately and never make it into the daily figures.

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Put simply, the big UK death toll you get every day is an undercount. But we don& #39;t know how big the discrepancy is and we may not know for some time to come.

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Links:

Today& #39;s DHSC figures: https://web.archive.org/web/20200414142623/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Today& #39;s">https://web.archive.org/web/20200... ONS data/briefing note:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending3april2020

COVID-19">https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepop... numbers in care homes in Europe:
#blog_subscription-3">https://ltccovid.org/2020/04/12/mortality-associated-with-covid-19-outbreaks-in-care-homes-early-international-evidence/?subscribe=success #blog_subscription-3

5/5">https://ltccovid.org/2020/04/1...