One of Britain’s top statisticians has said Covid-19 is likely to have caused 140,000 deaths in the UK.
MPs have grilled the head of the UK statistics regulator on what should be counted as a Covid-19 death.
The Commons Science Committee discussed which was the best measure of the death toll from the pandemic as many indicators show the UK has fared worse than most comparable nations.
Ed Humpherson, the head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, was grilled on which of the data was the best measure of Covid deaths.
Labour MP Graham Stringer suggested a lower measure of less than 20,000 deaths for which Covid-19 is the only cause listed on the death certificate could be the best measure.
This measure has been highlighted by lockdown sceptics to play down the true impact of the pandemic.
Mr Humpherson told MPs: “I so dislike that figure I’m not going to repeat it back.
“There is a figure which has been circulating which is based on the number of cases where the only cause listed on the death certificate was Covid.
“But if you look at the all of the death certificates where is Covid is listed as the underlying cause that’s 140,000.
“That the smaller number is highly misleading because it’s taking a very small subset of those death certificates where Covid is listed as the underlying cause.”
How Britain measures deaths has been the subject of some debate.
The daily data on the Government dashboard includes any where someone died within 28 days of someone tested positive for Covid-19 and currently stands at 183,579.
The 28-day measure has been used by many other countries.
It has been pointed out that some of these deaths would have been caused by something else and the virus would have only been incidental to the death.
Mr Humpherson said: “The key way to think about these statistics is to make sure that we’re using the statistics for the purpose that they’re intended.
“Whilst 28 days measure has its limitations it does have a purpose, which is this leading indicator gives us quick 24-hour response at times when the pandemic is increasing significantly.
“That is a very useful measure for society, policy makers and for the public more broadly to be to be aware of.
“If we want to have a more complete picture of Covid people dying from, as opposed to with Covid, then we use the ONS figures [on people for whom Covid is the underlying cause].
“If we want to have a broader sense of the overall impact of the pandemic on mortality, we look at the excess deaths because the number of deaths which are above the five year average.”
