Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns of economic 'scarring' from coronavirus - Daily Mail

Chancellor Rishi Sunak raises spectre of recession 'the likes of which we have not seen' as he warns over long-term economic 'scarring' from coronavirus - and hints self-employed bailout will end in June

• Chancellor highlighted the threat of 'scarring' as he said it would 'take time' for people to get 'back to normal' 
• Mr Sunak pointed to predictions unemployment will be in 'double digit' percentages by the end of the year
• GDP is expected to tumble by a third in this quarter as draconian restrictions strangles economic activity 
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

By James Tapsfield, Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: 16:00 BST, 19 May 2020 | Updated: 21:37 BST, 19 May 2020

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Rishi Sunak today gave a grim warning that there might be no 'immediate bounceback' from economic meltdown caused by coronavirus.

The Chancellor highlighted the threat of 'scarring' as he said it would 'take time' for people to get 'back to normal' even after the lockdown ends. 

He pointed to predictions that unemployment will be in 'double digit' percentages by the end of the year.  

The gloomy note, as Mr Sunak gave evidence to the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, came after the OBR watchdog and Bank of England warned UK plc faces the worst recession in 300 years.

GDP is expected to tumble by a third in this quarter as draconian restrictions to stop the spread of the disease strangles activity.

In more evidence of the problems, official figures earlier showed unemployment claims rose by more than 800,000 last month. 

The dire economic situation was laid bare as:

• Britain announced a further 545 people died with coronavirus, 13 per cent down on last week's figure;
• The government's plan to ease pupils back to school on June 1 came under a pincer movement by teachers and unions, who fear it is unsafe;
• A study found coronavirus kills 1.04 per cent of all cases - confirming claims it is 10 times deadlier than flu;
• The Environment Secretary said the government is already drawing up plans to reopen pubs from July with social distancing measures in place;
• Greece offered to waive quarantine rules for British summer holidaymakers if the gesture was reciprocated;
• Pizza Express became the latest eatery to tentatively open for business after announcing 13 branches across London will be reopned.  

Rishi Sunak sounded a gloomy note as he gave evidence to the Lords Economic Affairs Committee today

The NIESR forecast and Bank of England scenario both show easily the biggest dip in quarterly GDP since figures started being recorded in their modern form

The OBR's scenario from this week suggests debt will be equivalent to around 110 per cent of GDP this year

Government faces backlash over plans to reopen schools 

Boris Johnson's ambition to reopen primary schools on June 1 could be scrapped amid mass dissension from teachers, unions and growing numbers of Labour councils, it was revealed today.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said the Government would 'listen to their concerns' about safety and insisted opening schools in 12 days was not a 'hard deadline' only part of a 'roadmap' out of lockdown.

A poll from teachers' union NASUWT suggested that only 5% of teachers think it will be safe for more pupils to return to school next month. 

In a letter to the Education Secretary, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the union remains 'unconvinced' that wider reopening of schools from June 1 is 'appropriate or practicable'.

The survey, of nearly 29,000 NASUWT members across England, found that around nine in 10 teachers believe that social distancing will be impossible, or will present major issues and a similar proportion are not confident that the proposed measures will protect their health or the health of pupils.

It also found that 87 per cent of teachers believe that PPE is essential to protect staff against the virus. 

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Mr Sunak told the peers that the costs of the government bailouts so far was estimated at £100billion.

But he hinted that the scheme covering up to 80 per cent of usual monthly income for the self-employed might not be continued past June.

He said he 'looked at it differently' to furlough for employees, which will stay in place until October, although businesses will have to pick up some of the tab from August. 

The OBR and the Bank have suggested there will be a fairly rapid recovery once lockdown is eased.

But Mr Sunak said it was not clear how long the effects on the economy would last. 'The longer the recession, the likelihood the degree of scarring is higher,' he said.

Mr Sunak said the UK was facing 'a severe recession the likes of which we haven't seen'. 

On the recovery, he said: 'We all would hope that it is as swift and strong as it can be. We are getting data from around Europe and around the world as countries are progressively easing and lifting restrictions.

'It is not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce back. It takes time to get back to the habits that they had. 

'There are still restrictions in place. Even if we can re-open retail - which I would very much like to be able to do on June 1 - there will still be restrictions on how people can shop, which will have an impact likely on how much they spend. 

'Those things will all take time. So I think, in all cases, it will take a little bit of time for things to get back to normal, even once we've re-opened currently closed sectors.'  

Shops and many other businesses across the country have closed, sending home eight million employees to pick up 80 per cent of their pay cheque from the Government's furlough programme.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Treasury revealed that more than £11.1 billion had been claimed so far through the coronavirus job retention scheme.

The OBR watchdog and Bank of England warned UK plc faces the worst recession in 300 years

Hundreds of thousands of businesses have received more than £22 billion in three Government-backed loans from their banks to help them through the crisis.

The schemes cover 90 per cent or more of UK turnover and profit, the Chancellor said. 'We have the coverage that we want across all our loan schemes, so there isn't any need for any more changes,' Mr Sunak said.

He said the best way to support some of the hardest-hit businesses - such as restaurants - will be to help them reopen.

The Chancellor pointed out that some of the worst-hit businesses are those that employ lower earners and young people

'It is critical, both for economic and social justice reasons, that we get those people back to work,' he said.

The government today suggested that furloughed employees could plug the gap left by thousands of overseas fruit-pickers to provide seasonal labour in the UK each year.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said that they could take a second job harvesting crops after eastern Europeans have been unable to fly because of travel restrictions.

Fronting the Downing Street press briefing, he said:  'Every year large numbers of people come from countries such as Romania or Bulgaria to take part in the harvest, harvesting crops such as strawberries and salads and vegetable.

'We estimate that probably only about a third of the people that would normally come are already here, and small numbers may continue to travel.

'But one thing is clear and that is that this year we will need to rely on British workers to lend a hand to help bring that harvest home.'

Mr Eustice said that furloughed workers 'may be getting to the point that they want to lend a hand and play their part, they may be wanting to get out and they may be wanting to supplement their income'. 

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2020-05-19 20:45:42Z
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Britain’s vision for EU trade deal prompts claims of cherry picking - Financial Times

Boris Johnson on Tuesday set out full legal details of the “Canada-style” free trade agreement he wants to strike with the EU, but experts said the texts only proved that his demands went well beyond any deal previously agreed by Brussels.

Mr Johnson is not expected to launch a diplomatic effort to unblock the stalled EU trade talks until after the next round of negotiations, starting on June 1, but in the meantime he tried to create some momentum by setting out in legal detail exactly what Britain wants.

The legal texts elaborate on the broad objectives for the future UK/EU relationship set out by Mr Johnson in February, which is supposed to be in place before the end of this year. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the UK has repeatedly said it will not take up the option to extend the transition period beyond 2020.

Global trade analysts said the details published by the UK confirmed what Brussels has been saying for weeks: that the deal sought by Britain includes attempts to “cherry pick” parts of the EU single market, which the UK formally exits on December 31.

Michel Barnier © Francois Lenoir/EPA

Michael Gove, cabinet office minister, said the talks with Brussels were stalled because Michel Barnier, chief EU negotiator, was taking an “ideological approach”, including demanding “level playing field” provisions to stop the UK undercutting European social, tax and environmental standards as well as rules on state aid.

Mr Gove and Mr Johnson have repeatedly claimed that Britain wants nothing more than the kind of free trade agreement the EU has already negotiated with countries such as Canada, Japan or South Korea.

In a letter to Mr Barnier, dated May 19 and released by the UK on Tuesday, Mr Frost insisted that Britain’s proposed trade deal “approximates very closely those the EU has agreed with Canada or Japan”.

Mr Frost accused Brussels of having an incoherent stance in the negotiations, saying its position was “perplexing”.

“We find it surprising that the EU not only insists on additional provisions, but is also not willing even to replicate provisions in previous FTAs,” he wrote.

[The UK is] looking for more than Canada, Korea or Japan in exchange for the same — or probably even less — in terms of level playing field provisions

“Overall, we find it hard to see what makes the UK, uniquely among your trading partners, so unworthy of being offered the kind of well-precedented arrangements commonplace in modern FTAs.”

He reiterated Britain’s firm opposition to the EU’s level playing field demands, saying a “particularly egregious example” was Brussels’ requirement that Britain continue to adhere to EU state-aid rules.

But trade experts poring over the 12 separate negotiating texts produced by the UK — and formally shared with EU capitals for the first time — said the British demands were “ambitious” and outside the scope of a traditional FTA.

David Henig, director of the UK trade policy project and a former trade negotiator, said: “[The UK is] looking for more than Canada, Korea or Japan in exchange for the same — or probably even less — in terms of level playing field provisions.”

The decision to publish the documents came after weeks in which the UK had ordered Mr Barnier not to share draft texts with EU member states, causing growing frustration in EU capitals. 

Talks between the two sides are deadlocked on the question of the level playing field, with Brussels insisting that if Britain wants privileged access to the single market after Brexit it must be prevented from undercutting the EU social and environmental model.

A separate dispute concerns EU demands for continued access to British fishing waters on similar terms to now, while London objects to any role for the European Court of Justice in enforcing any eventual deal.

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Mr Barnier said last week: “To make progress in this negotiation — if it is still the UK’s intention to strike a deal with the EU — the UK will have to be more realistic.” He added: “It will have to change strategy. You cannot have the best of both worlds.”

EU officials also say British attempts to agree mutual recognition deals for professional qualifications — for lawyers in particular — and for industrial products reflected London’s attempt to keep the same access to the single market.

“The British request to have British qualifications recognised by default, subject to terms and conditions, goes far beyond the EU-Japan deal, or the Ceta deal with Canada,” said Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform.

“This is not necessarily impossible but it is not the kind of things the EU hands readily in its free trade agreements.”

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2020-05-19 20:48:29Z
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Coronavirus: The number of 'excess deaths' in care homes and hospitals compared with normal times is revealed - Sky News

Twice as many people have died in care homes in England, Wales and Scotland during the coronavirus pandemic than would be expected in normal times, Sky News analysis has found.

Between 13 March and 8 May, 39,404 people died in care homes in England and Wales.

The five-year average number of people who die in care homes during that same period is 17,591, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This means an extra 21,813 deaths occurred during what the ONS record as week 12 and week 19, a rise of 124%.

Figures from the ONS and National Records of Scotland (NRS) show there have been 11,414 deaths involving COVID-19 recorded in care homes.

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This includes when coronavirus is suspected, as well as when the patient has tested positive for the virus.

But only looking at the people who have COVID-19 listed on their death certificate does not show the true picture of what is happening in care homes.

More from Covid-19

A better measure is "excess of mortality", a term used to describe when more people die than would be expected under normal conditions.

Some of the people who died from coronavirus may have died anyway from another health problem. However, by looking at the excess of mortality figures we can get a better understanding of the impact of the pandemic.

The excess of mortality figure also takes in deaths of people who have died as an indirect result of the pandemic, such as if a diversion of resources led to the person passing away.

Although there are no figures available for Northern Ireland, overall deaths in Scottish care homes are also double the five-year average.

There have been 2,054 additional deaths in care homes there, with 4,070 people dying compared to the 2,016 previous average, according to the NRS.

These figures cover the deaths registered in care homes during almost the same time period as the England and Wales figures, with the Scottish figures going from week 12 (16-22 March) to week 19 (4-10 May).

Chairwoman of the National Care Association, Nadra Ahmed, believes there are many reasons why there has been such a big rise in the number of excess deaths.

She told Sky News: "We are in a pandemic [and] there has been some fairly chaotic guidance and very little clinical support."

She says that when residents feel unwell in normal times, a GP would be called and health support would be provided to ensure the patient has a good chance of recovery.

But this has become difficult, with Ms Ahmed highlighting a case where a consultation from a GP had to be done via an iPad, which meant a physical examination couldn't take place.

Additionally, she has concerns that some residents may have fears about going into hospital because of the virus, so might try to hide that they feel unwell - something that is compounded by a stretched staff team who don't have as much time to notice such signals.

"People may not be addressing those issues [of feeling unwell]. Those who are compos mentis might think, 'I don't want to get involved in all this, I'll just keep quiet, I can manage this.'

"I don't want to play a blame game here but this is about not having the normal levels of primary care support that [care homes] would normally have," she says.

She continues: "I think staff will have been crisis managing.

"Here we have a situation where the staff are trying to not only be the coalface of delivering personal care but also the social and the mental health care that they can."

Ms Ahmed says there are "multiple factors of this virus being so dangerous for older people", highlighting the example of the difficulties of getting a person with dementia to self-isolate or remember to wash their hands regularly.

She also raises that, especially for older people, stress and fear can have a big impact on people's minds and bodies.

Excess deaths are happening in both care homes and in hospitals, but the number of excess deaths is higher in care homes.

The total number of deaths registered between weeks 12 and 19 in hospitals in England and Wales is 40% higher than expected.

There were 15,787 additional deaths: 54,862 deaths compared to the 39,075 five-year average.

Almost half of these hospital deaths had COVID-19 on the death certificates.

Meanwhile in Scotland, there were 548 additional deaths in hospitals between the weeks 12 and 19. This is 13% higher than the expected numbers.

Of the 4,871 people who died during that period in Scottish hospitals, a third of them were recorded as COVID-19-related.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Every death from this virus is a tragedy and our deepest sympathies go out to the families who have sadly lost relatives.

"Supporting the social care sector throughout this pandemic is a priority. We are working around the clock to give the social care sector the equipment and support they need.

"We are ensuring millions of items of PPE are available to care workers, using our increased testing capacity to test care home residents and staff regardless of symptoms, and introducing our new £600m infection control fund to help prevent the spread in care homes."

Analysis: Equivalent of at least one in 10 of the care home population have died during the pandemic

By Ed Conway, Sky News economics editor

The number of care home residents who have died during the COVID-19 outbreak is now equivalent to at least one in 10 of the entire care home population, according to Sky News analysis.

Between early March and the first week of May, nearly 54,000 care home residents have died in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Where is UK on COVID curve?

The number includes deaths from all causes, and while only a fraction are formally attributed to COVID-19, the cumulative total is now well over double the historical average for deaths at this point in the year.

Since the total number of beds in the care sector across the UK is 532,000, it means that more than 10% of the care home population has died since March.

This calculation is a cautious one, since at any point the care sector typically has a below 100% occupancy rate.

COVID-19: Killer in our care homes

Plus, while the 54,000 deaths include just under 6,000 care home residents who died in hospitals, they also under-count the total number of care home deaths in Northern Ireland, since those statistics aren't provided by its statistical office.

The figures are the latest evidence of how severely the epidemic and lockdown have hit the care sector, where the number of excess deaths are higher than in hospitals or any other setting.

The word "decimate" is often misused. Strictly speaking, it means to eliminate one in 10 of a given figure.

It is perhaps one of the most depressing outcomes of the epidemic that during this outbreak, Britain's care home population has literally been decimated.

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2020-05-19 19:57:07Z
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Rishi Sunak issues stern response amid fears Nicola Sturgeon could break ranks again - Express

The different policies being taken by the devolved Governments in terms of unlocking their economies could create a "potential disparity", according to Lord Christopher Fox. The Liberal Democrat peer grilled Chancellor Rishi Sunak during an Economic Affairs Committee session over the impact of the UK's individual approaches. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already diverted from the British Government on a number of measures during the coronavirus crisis.

Lord Fox asked the Chancellor: "There's potentially a fiscal impact, in Scotland, for example, they could take a different view in how they unwind the furlough scheme.

"That would have a financial effect, which, at the moment, is coming out of Her Majesty's Treasury.

"What's the Treasury's view if Scotland takes a divergent view on furlough?"

The furlough scheme was implemented to protect jobs during the pandemic by having the Government pay employees' wages up to 80 percent.

READ MORE: Sturgeon shamed as Scottish care homes forced to accept PPE donations

Mr Sunak replied: "Just to be clear, the furlough is a UK scheme and will apply nationwide to all sectors, all devolved authorities, all regions equally.

"I've set out a very generous timetable all the way through to the end of October.

"This provides considerable runway for companies to start back up and for people to get back to work whilst making sure the scheme is overall affordable as well.

"So it is not differentiated, and I've made the decision for the United Kingdom because it is a United Kingdom policy."

Mr Sunak told the committee: "It will be for devolved authorities to make their own decisions in their areas on things that they have competence on.

"I'm sure they'll be making their own estimates on all of those things.

"I wouldn't disagree that children being back at school is not just good primarily and most importantly for children themselves in terms of their educational and social development.

"It also has a beneficial impact on freeing up working parents to work.

"We know from the survey data that that has been an issue for many parents. So yes I agree that that may have an impact."

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2020-05-19 19:20:58Z
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Mirrors and garden shears prices set to fall in Brexit tariff plan - BBC News

Baking powder, garden shears and mirrors are among the items set to get cheaper from 1 January under new tariff plans announced by the government.

The Department for International Trade said the new UK Global Tariff is a simpler, more liberal scheme which "backs consumers and business".

Following its departure from the European Union, the UK has the ability to set its own rules and charges.

But a influential retail lobby group warned food prices could still rise.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said to prevent this the UK would need a "comprehensive" trade deal with the EU.

"UK consumers have become accustomed to a huge variety of affordable food thanks, in part, to tariff-free imports from the EU.

"Unless a similar agreement is reached in the next seven months, imported agricultural products will be subject to new tariffs, raising costs for consumers," she warned.

The scheme includes the abolition of tariffs on imports worth over £30bn.

But with the price of affected items typically set to fall by less than 5%, economists say the impact on the cost of living will be small.

And some tariffs will be maintained on imported items such as beef and cars, to protect British producers, following extensive consultation.

This could add thousands of pounds to the cost of a car imported from Europe and push up food prices if a trade deal is not struck with Brussels in time for January, something the The Food and Drink Federation warns that could cause "serious damage".

It could also make it harder for European producers to sell in to the UK.

• Brexit trade deal: What do the UK and EU want?

Items on the list include pistachios, on which the tariff is so low it is more costly to collect than it is worth.

Also covered will be goods which are not produced in the UK, items used in British manufacturers supply chains, such as screws, and those linked to energy efficiency, including thermostats.

Other items will have tariffs simplified, and expressed in pounds instead of Euros.

First step

International trade secretary Liz Truss said: "Our new Global Tariff will benefit UK consumers and households by cutting red tape and reducing the cost of thousands of everyday products"

So some analysts have interpreted the timing of Tuesday's announcement as a reminder to the EU of what is at stake if progress isn't made in the ongoing trade talks.

It is also being perceived as the UK signalling it is making the most of its new freedom with other trading partners.

In total, 60% of UK imports will be tariff free in January under this scheme and the preferential trade deals that exist with some countries.

But this is only one step in the UK's trade policy - and a relatively easy one.

It aims to have 80% of trade covered by free trade deals in three years which will necessitate reaching agreements with the EU and US.

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2020-05-19 15:33:45Z
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Coronavirus: Data delay left care homes ‘fighting losing battle’ - BBC News

Care homes in England were planning their response to the coronavirus pandemic "with their hands tied" because data about outbreaks in the sector were not published until the end of April, an industry body has said.

Public Health England had counted more than 4,500 Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes before it issued its findings, figures reveal.

The National Care Forum voiced concerns at the data not being shared but PHE said it was used by health protection teams and to brief ministers.

Gary Lemin, whose father Roger died from Covid-19 in Cornish care home Roseland Court, told BBC Radio 4's File on 4 that a lack of data meant care homes have been "fighting a losing battle".

He added: "It makes it very difficult to understand the problem. It's almost as if their lives don't matter as much as anybody else's.

"It's a kind of an indictment of the way that the care system has been seen over this crisis."

It comes as figures from the Office for National Statistics and its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland suggest more than 11,600 people have died with coronavirus in care homes across the UK since the start of the pandemic.

PHE has been collecting data on the number of both suspected and confirmed outbreaks in English care homes since 9 March.

The data shows there were more than 500 Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes in the week beginning 23 March - with this figure increasing to almost 800 the week after.

In the week beginning 13 April, there were nearly 1,000 outbreaks in English care homes.

The South East region recorded a more than five-fold increase in outbreaks within one week in early March, at a time when other regions' homes had barely registered cases.

By the time PHE published the information - on 29 April - there had been more than 4,500 outbreaks in care homes.

'Game of catch up'

Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, which represents more than 120 not-for-profit care organisations, said: "The consequences of not having that data are huge.

"It has affected our ability to plan, prioritise, identify early outbreaks and bring in the right level of medical and health expertise.

"Having that overall picture of knowing what's going on is absolutely critical. I think it's impossible to operate effectively without that."

"We're now in a terrible game of catch up."

PHE said it "used the data on reported outbreaks in care homes, large and small, to inform directors of public health, directors of adult social care… and other partners through LRFs (local resilience forums)".

But the Local Government Association (LGA) confirmed it had not received the data and told the BBC that directors of public health have said it has been "difficult" to get postcode level data - and that real-time data sharing has been a problem both nationally and locally.

The LGA added: "Data on testing, deaths and better surveillance will be required as we move into contact tracing and case finding."

James Bullion, director of the Association of Directors of Social Care, said he was not aware of the PHE outbreak figures.

He added: "We were all, as directors, wanting greater distribution, greater understanding and transparency of the data around outbreaks and indeed, around incidents."

'Vital role'

PHE said it only published the data in late April after introducing detail about the number of outbreaks at local authority level in order to help support government.

A PHE spokesman added: "PHE's health protection teams play a vital role locally in responding to any outbreak in care homes, providing tailored infection control advice to allow staff to protect themselves and their residents."

The Department for Health and Social Care said: "The government's daily figure now includes deaths that have occurred in England in all settings where there has been a positive Covid-19 test, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community."

Coronavirus: The care homes catastrophe is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 19 May at 20:00 BST and available afterwards on BBC Sounds.

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2020-05-19 13:47:24Z
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UK deaths since virus struck almost 55,000 above average, says ONS - Financial Times

Almost 55,000 more people have died in the UK since the pandemic struck in March than the average of the past five years, according to official data published on Tuesday.

Excess deaths registrations in England and Wales rose another 3,081 in the week ending May 8, according to the Office for National Statistics, although the figure was flattered by the VE Day bank holiday, which meant there were no registrations that day.

Excess deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland had been released earlier and these rose by 400 and 62 respectively for the equivalent period.

The totals brings the UK’s excess deaths since the week beginning March 14 to 54,522, the highest in Europe, although equivalent figures have not yet been published in Italy.

The figure is almost 20,000 more than the current running total of 34,796 Covid-19 deaths announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, which counts only those who died after testing positive for coronavirus.

The ONS data were in line with the FT model that updates the excess death numbers to the current data from hospitals. The model now suggests 61,900 more excess deaths than average in the UK between mid-March and May 19. 

The ONS said the figure of 12,657 total deaths registered in the week ending May 8 would probably have been 20 per cent higher if it had been a normal working week.

Nick Stripe, head of life events at the ONS, said: “The disadvantage of having a bank holiday on a Friday is there’s no scope for a catch-up [of registrations] later in the week. A conservative estimate is that 2,500 would have been registered on the May 8 VE Day bank holiday.”

There is firm evidence now that the peak of the epidemic has passed in the UK. Death registrations were down just over 5,000 from 17,953 the previous week, ending May 1, and would probably have trended downwards even if there had not been a bank holiday.

However, with the deaths that would have been recorded on Friday May 8 likely to be registered in next week’s data, the ONS said there was a likelihood the sharp improvement this week would reverse next week. “The trends should therefore be interpreted with caution this week and next week,” it said in a statement.

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For the first week since the pandemic began, deaths in hospitals were back to normal levels, but the ONS cautioned that this was also likely to be distorted by the loss of one day of reporting.

Deaths in care homes and the community were still much higher than normal, so ministers will face further pressure to explain whether their efforts to protect hospitals led to many more people dying with Covid-19 at home and in care homes.

The number of deaths in care homes in England and Wales for the week to May 8 was 4,248, more than double the five-year average.

The ONS said there were two main reasons for the difference between the 55,000 UK excess deaths during the pandemic and the 41,020 deaths in the UK that were linked on death certificates to Covid-19.

Mr Stripe said that some people had not attended hospitals because they were unwilling or unable to do so and had “normal care pathways disrupted”, while for others it was not obvious to the certifying doctors who filled in death certificates that the person had coronavirus.

In many weeks since mid-March, the number of excess deaths of women over 85 years old in England and Wales has been more than double the number of those with coronavirus on their death certificates. Mr Stripe said this was linked to a large increase in deaths from “ill-defined conditions” in April, such as frailty and old age.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2Y2YTExZmNkLTA0NDUtNDY0My05ZDNjLTI0ZDVmYzA2MTFkYdIBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2Y2YTExZmNkLTA0NDUtNDY0My05ZDNjLTI0ZDVmYzA2MTFkYQ?oc=5

2020-05-19 13:06:35Z
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