More than 30,000 extra deaths have taken place in private homes in England and Wales since the start of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, new figures show.
Extra deaths – known as “excess deaths” – are the number of deaths that are above the average for the corresponding period in the previous five years.
A total of 31,684 excess deaths in homes in England and Wales were registered between 7 March and 30 October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Of this number, 2,676 – or 8% – were confirmed as deaths involving coronavirus
People dying in their own homes
The figures show there are still many more people than normal who are dying in their own home.
Deaths in private homes have been running at roughly the same level each week – around 700 to 900 above the five-year average – since the end of May.
By contrast, the number of deaths in care homes and hospitals during the same period has been mostly below the five-year average.
Previous analysis by the ONS found that in private homes in England, deaths for males from heart disease, from the start of the coronavirus pandemic through to early September, were 26% higher than the five-year average. While prostate cancer deaths had increased 53%.
For women, deaths in private homes from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease had increased 75%, while deaths from breast cancer were up 47%.
