Coronavirus: Care home deaths 'starting to decline'

The number of deaths linked to coronavirus in care homes in England and Wales has fallen, figures show.

The Office for National Statistics analysis showed there were 2,423 fatalities where the virus was mentioned on the death certificate in the week ending 1 May. That is down from nearly 2,800 the week before.

More than 8,300 deaths in care homes have been linked to virus since the epidemic started. The number of hospital deaths have been falling since early April but the government and care sector had been struggling to contain outbreaks in care homes.

Despite the drop, the virus is still have a major impact on the overall number of deaths in care homes. The total number seen in the week to 1 May is still nearly three times higher than you would normally expect.

That means there a large number of deaths happening where the cause is unclear.

One suggestion has been that the lack of testing in care homes has meant coronavirus has not always been listed on death certificates when it should.

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Source: BBC News, 12 May 2020