Coronavirus: Government 'misled public over data showing fewer COVID-19 deaths than France’

Government statistics on coronavirus deaths compared to those in France have “misled” the public, according to a medical journal.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) cites figures from Public Health France, that records deaths from COVID-19 by taking in data from deaths outside hospitals as well as those from patients who were hospitalised.

The publication states that the global death comparison used by the government on Monday shows France’s deaths tallied at just over 14,000 – compared to 11,329 for the UK.

However, hospital-only deaths from COVID-19 totalled 9,588 – below the like-for-like UK figure, the HSJ said.

Speaking at Monday's daily briefing, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the date “doesn’t carry all deaths in this, it looks at the deaths in hospital”.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Tuesday that there were 3,475 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 3 April that mentioned COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

That means about one in five deaths across the two countries right now is linked to COVID-19.

The disease helped contribute to the total number of deaths in that week of 16,387, which was 6,082 more than expected at this time of year.

Vallance said the global death comparison chart looks at hospital deaths because “that’s the international standard and which everyone else is doing in terms of reporting deaths”

He added: “There are of course unfortunately many deaths that also occur outside hospital. We’re tracking behind Italy, we’re following the same sort of path.”

Tuesday’s briefing also showed the UK as being below France’s deaths trajectory.

Responding to a question on the figures, Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, said: “There are so many measures of death… that it can be very difficult to understand what exactly you’re looking at.

“One of the things we’re doing all the time is speaking to our European neighbours to understand not just what they’re measuring but what they consider best practice to be and how we can learn together about that.”

Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, added: “There are differences in the reporting of all sorts of statistics from different countries and it’s really important to ensure that is taken into account when you are doing that comparison.”

Yahoo News UK has contacted the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter