THE UK’s total number of coronavirus infections hit 294,066 today after 827 more cases were confirmed.
The Government will not, however, be updating today’s Covid death figures after Public Health England was blamed for miscalculations.
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Today’s rise in cases is greater than it was yesterday, when 687 new infections were confirmed.
It is also considerably bigger than any daily rise recorded since June 26 (1,251) – and is nearing the Government’s crucial target of fewer than 1,000 new cases per day.
The UK’s coronavirus death toll hit 45,233 yesterday after 114 fatalities were announced.
But the Department of Health has said today’s figures will not be released amid the accuracy concerns.
A review has been launched after experts said the number of fatalities could be over-exaggerated.
Professors Yoon Loke, from the University of East Anglia and Carl Heneghan, from the University of Oxford, say Public Health England looks at whether a person has ever tested positive and whether they are still alive at a later date.
They said: “PHE does not appear to consider how long ago the Covid test result was, nor whether the person has been successfully treated in hospital and discharged to the community.”
PHE does not appear to consider how long ago the Covid test result was, nor whether the person has been successfully treated in hospital and discharged to the community.
Professor Yoon Loke and Carl Heneghan
This means anyone who has ever tested positive for Covid-19 and then dies is included in the death figures, even if they have died from something else.
In a statement, the Department for Health and Social Care said: “The Secretary of State has today, 17 July, asked PHE to urgently review their estimation of daily death statistics.
“Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death.
“There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number.
“We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved.”
In England, 13 new hospital deaths were confirmed today, bringing the total number of Covid deaths in English hospitals to 29,173.
Patients were aged between 49 and 96 and all had underlying health conditions.
No new deaths were reported in Scotland or Wales today, leaving the fatal tallies there at 2,491 and 1,546 respectively.
Northern Ireland’s toll also remained the same, with 556 deaths in total.
Commenting on how the UK’s coronavirus death figures are calculated, Dr Susan Hopkins, PHE’s incident director, said: “Although it may seem straightforward, there is no World Health Organisation agreed method of counting deaths from Covid-19.
“In England, we count all those that have died who had a positive Covid-19 test at any point, to ensure our data is as complete as possible.
“We must remember that this is a new and emerging infection and there is increasing evidence of long-term health problems for some of those affected.
“Whilst this knowledge is growing, now is the right time to review how deaths are calculated.”
