About a third more deaths in England are occurring at home than before the Covid-19 pandemic, data has revealed, with the majority down to causes other than the coronavirus.
In April, the UK government launched a campaign to encourage people who were unwell to seek medical attention, amid alarm that A&E attendances had plummeted. But the latest data, which extends into mid-September, suggests those with life-threatening conditions are still shying away from hospitals.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that even after the peak of the first wave of Covid, deaths at home were higher than the five-year average, with about a third more deaths registered – a proportion has remained largely steady since mid-June. Deaths at home have also remained elevated in Wales.
