A comparison of daily deaths from Covid-19 and non-Covid causes is incorrect – Full Fact

29 October 2020

21 people were dying daily of Covid-19 in October in England.

This is incorrect. At the time the claim was made, the number of deaths reported of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 and died within 28 days was 169.

Daily deaths from cancer in England were in 450 in October.

This seems to be an average based on 2015-2017 figures. Looking at 2019 figures 378 people died per day on average.

Daily dementia deaths in England in October were at 192.

In 2019 there were around 172 deaths from dementia and Alzheimers daily in England.

Daily deaths from heart disease in England were at 174 in October.

Heart disease is an imprecise term, and based on 2019 data, up to 330 daily deaths could be attributed to it.

There were 99 daily deaths from stroke in England in October.

This seems to be based on figures from the British Heart Foundation. An estimation based on 2019 figures suggests a figure of 65 daily deaths.

A post showing a still from a UK Column YouTube video, which compares deaths from various illnesses to Covid-19, has been shared on Facebook. Another post (since deleted) was shared over 20,000 times, and our readers also sent us a version that was circulating on WhatsApp.

The figure given for deaths from Covid-19 was wrong at the time the video was posted. The figures for non-Covid deaths seem to be estimates based on data from previous years, and while they are mostly in the right territory they are not all accurate.

It is far too soon for us to know the actual recent figures of deaths from cancer, dementia, heart disease and stroke. This data is released annually and isnt broken down by individual days. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that the figures for non-Covid deaths given here are real. We do have daily figures of deaths from Covid-19 due to the pandemic.

The video claims that the daily death figures at the moment show 21 people dying of Covid-19 in England. This is incorrect. On 21 October when the video was posted, the number of deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 and died within 28 days was 173. The average number in the seven days leading up to this was 142 deaths per day.

The last day on which deaths were at or lower than 21 was 19 September, over a month before the video was posted, when 17 people in England died.

The video also claims that daily deaths from cancer in England were 450. This figure appears to come from Cancer Research UK data from 2015 to 2017. Under the Office for National Statistics (ONS) definition of cancer as malignant neoplasms, 137,850 people were registered in 2019 as having cancer as an underlying cause of death, which is about 378 people a day. Adding in benign tumours, this rises to 141,066 yearly deaths or 386 daily deaths.

The video claims that daily deaths from dementia in England are at 192 per day. ONS data says that deaths from dementia and its most common cause, Alzheimers disease, in 2019 were 43,213 and 19,563 respectively. This results in 172 daily deaths from both.

The video says 174 people are dying daily from heart disease in England. Heart disease is a very broad and undefined term which can mean many different things depending on what is being considered. The British Heart Foundation has previously claimed that around 180 people a day die from coronary heart disease each year. The ONS told Full Fact that anything classified under diseases of the circulatory system could possibly be called heart disease. Total yearly death figures from all circulatory system diseases are 120,657, so about 331 a day.

We have previously reported on daily deaths from stroke. The Facebook post says that 99 people died of a stroke daily. This appears to also come from reporting by the British Heart Foundation which says around 36,000 deaths happen due to strokes each year. We found that the figure in 2019 was about 65 a day.

The limited data that we do have on non-Covid deaths this year does suggest that the death rate for many major illnesses is fairly similar to prior years.

You can ask us to fact checkthings you've seen on WhatsAppby using our number+44 7521 770995

This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about thisand find out how to report Facebook contenthere. For the purposes of that scheme, weve rated this claim as partly false because many of these figures are incorrect or based on data from several years ago.

Youve probably seen a surge in misleading and unsubstantiated medical advice since the Covid-19 outbreak. If followed, it can put lives at serious risk. We need your help to protect us all from false and harmful information.

Weve seen people claiming to be health professionals, family members, and even the government offering dangerous tips like drinking warm water or gargling to prevent infection. Neither of these will work.

The longer claims like these go unchecked, the more they are repeated and believed. It can put peoples health at serious risk, when our services are already under pressure.

Today, you have the opportunity to help save lives. Good information about Covid-19 could be the difference between someone taking the right precautions to protect themselves and their families, or not. Could you help protect us all from false and harmful information today?

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A comparison of daily deaths from Covid-19 and non-Covid causes is incorrect - Full Fact