The Local Government Association says latest data from the Office of National Statistics of deaths in the community attributed to coronavirus is ‘shocking’
The figures released today (April 28) are for provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales, including deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), by local authority, health board and place of death up until April 24.
It shows that nationally between April 10-24, the Care Quality Commission was notified of 4,343 people registered as dying from COVID-19 in care homes and a further 653 notifications but with no location stated. There were 88 CQC notifications for deaths in Kent care homes attributed to Covid-19 during the same period. These include both suspected and confirmed cases.
Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “It is truly shocking to see how many of the most elderly and vulnerable in our communities have died from this dreadful disease.
“Every death from this virus is a tragedy. This is being exacerbated by the fact some social care staff and other frontline workers still lack the necessary PPE to protect themselves and the people they care for from contracting coronavirus.
“Social care is now the frontline in the fight against coronavirus and we need to do all we can to shield people in care homes and those receiving care in their own homes.
“It is urgent that the Government’s online PPE ordering system is fully rolled out as soon as possible, so that councils and care providers can directly request that critical protective equipment gets to those who desperately need it.
“This has to be alongside an increase in rapid and comprehensive testing and in other kinds of support to care homes, such as staffing and equipment, on an equal footing with the NHS. Councils stand ready to play their part in this and are already doing so in many places.
“We are also yet to see the peak of the stress on the social care system, due to the delay between hospital admissions and discharge, which will require the need to start shifting capacity across from hospitals and into the community to meet a surge in demand.”
Deaths (numbers) by local authority that occurred up to 17th April but were registered up to 25th April according to the ONS
| Place of death | |||||||
| Area name | Home | Hospital | Care home | Hospice | Other communal establishment | Elsewhere | |
| Ashford | 2 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Canterbury | 3 | 30 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| Dover | 1 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Folkestone and Hythe | 0 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Thanet | 2 | 33 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
The latest data from ONS shows 51 deaths registered for people in Thanet registered up to April 25. Of those, 33 people died in hospital, 14 in care homes, two in the hospice and 2 at home.
In Kent and Medway there have been 3818 positive tests up until yesterday (April 27), according to government data.
East Kent Hospitals, including in Margate, Ashford and Canterbury, have recorded 160 deaths attributed to Covid-19 up until April 27, this data is updated daily ,ahead of that held by ONS which is updated over a 10 day period, but accounts only for those in hospital.
As of April 17, 129 people have been discharged from the Trust’s hospitals having sufficiently recovered from Covid-19.
The East Kent Hospitals Trust is one of the largest in the country with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 695,000 people.
Hospitals across Kent and Medway have increased the number of specialist beds available to support patients experiencing the most serious reactions to Covid-19.
As of April 24 hospitals were caring for just over 145 patients in specialist ventilation and ‘oxygen plus’ beds, and there are around 160 more of these beds available if needed.
As of 9am on 27 April, nationally there have been 719,910 tests. Of the 569,768 people who have been tested, 157,149 have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 26 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 21,092 have died.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:
- new continuous cough and/or
- high temperature
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.
Use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service if:
- you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
- your condition gets worse
- your symptoms do not get better after 7 days
