I'm confused or is Matt Hancock?

Yes we noticed this too tonight something to do with changing the way it was being recorded from 1st June? My DCs spotted it straight away

Cant believe anything they say. Just make it up really. Wondered why they'd changed the format of the briefing tonight.
Matt Hancock stutters so much it makes us suspicious. If he says that's a very good question one more time arrrghh.

Think they can distract us ....think again boys

Reason given on Government website is "Daily and total case counts are as of 1 June 2020. Daily and total deaths are as of 31 May 2020." and "Additional deaths, identified from Pillar 2 testing in England, have been added to the data over the last week. In total 445 deaths have been added, with dates of death back to 26 April 2020.
445 plus today's 111 gives you the 556

Good to see the numbers going down. Wish more people were following the guidelines.

Something very similar happened to Spain’s figures ten days ago where they dropped from 28000+ dead, down to 26000+ overnight. Their deaths per day also plummeted from around 100 per day to single figures, and yesterday to zero.

It appears that they have changed to only counting deaths with a lab tested positive which of course will show less. In UK and Belgium, all deaths are counted, where the virus is suspected by a medical practitioner.

I don't think that's correct Pantglas. Originally, people in care homes or dying at home weren't included in the UK figures and my understanding is that the reason for the jump yesterday was because people being tested by a private provider weren't being counted. There is also the question of people who already have serious underlying conditions, who have died prematurely as a result of Covid-19, not being counted as Covid-19 deaths.

We won't actually know until excess deaths are analysed. I think the UK's squirming doesn't cover up the fact that our death rate is still high and not dropping as quickly as it has done in other countries.

Anyone else read there were 8,000 new cases in a day last week? I don't think it's coming down fast enough at all. We are continuing to be very careful.

These are figures added in from back in April which were not included before apparently from care homes where although Covid was mentioned It was not given as the main cause.

"Lies, damned lies and statistics" springs to mind.

I thought it was 8,000 new cases a week. The 'per day' has puzzled me, too, though I've seen it mentioned a few times.

Oh, and the ONS figures for excess deaths in England and Wales, out today, show that the number of excess deaths seems to be dropping.

From 4,385 w/e 15th May to 2,348 w/e 22nd May.

But next week we might see a possible VE day effect..

It’s so difficult deciphering different countries accounting with this virus - I fondly imagined the EU countries would have agreed on one way so that comparisons could be made but seems not.

I’ve been watching daily figures for a few select countries, Spain being one, Japan another, and strict lockdowns don’t appear to have worked across the board no more than the lack thereof. Population densities again not a universal factor.

I’m intrigued by the sheer lack of predictability of it all!

Those who are pleased that the 'numbers are going down' might stop to consider that this is definitely not true in the north of England, where they are rising.

Easing the lockdown because the south of the country is seeing a drop in cases is short-sighted at best. Even if you don't care about people in the north, as long as the virus is uncontrolled there it will recirculate in the south, too.

Pantglas thats something the Brexiteers should know....The EU is a union of Sovereign nations with the power to make their own decisions...just as the UK was.It was Westminster who din't control the borders,Westminster who in fact was responsible for all teh ills brexiteers lay at the door of the EU

I definitely do not trust Matt Hancock
He is shifty
Sorry but he is totally a yes man and often seems out of his depth
You are not wrong OP

I agree Doodledog, although I don't actually think there's much of a rationale behind the easing of lockdown anyway, apart from scoring positivity points from those who were fed up with being cooped up. Where I live, in the East of England (but actually London commuter belt territory), the infection rate doesn't seem to have shifted much, which I find concerning. It means that as one person recovers, another one becomes ill, so R=1.

In Germany each small area is being monitored and treated accordingly. Unfortunately, local authorities in the UK have had that capacity stripped out through successive cuts. IMO the attempt to control this from the centre in a top down way is a huge mistake.

I’m sure the brexiters do know all that Paddyanne, my point was that this would have been one time when it would have been beneficial for the EU to have followed one format (all inclusive deaths or not) for ease of comparison. It was logistical rather than political.

You are well not to believe anything Hancock says.

Lies about the testing confirmed.

Why should they all have followed the same counting method? They're sovereign countries and always have been. Healthcare and counting deaths have never been EU matters. Whose system should we all have used?

I don't think it matters that much anyway. The one country the UK should be comparing itself with is Germany, which is bigger, but has the same kind of mix of urban and rural areas and population density. It also has a similar mix of ethnic backgrounds and pockets of relative poverty. In comparison, the UK's record is woeful.

We will never know the true extent of this, either here or worldwide.
How will we know the true number of cases if some people are symptomless or are hardly ill at all therefore never report to a doctor.

It was reported yesterday that some areas of Russia apparently do not count deaths which they say were caused by pneumonia even if that was caused by COVID19. This could happen in other countries too.

The ONS statistics would be more reliable than any politician.

We're not in safe waters yet imo.

Should know more now the antibody tests seem to be reliable. Still need to get everyone tested, though.

covid.joinzoe.com/data#interactive-map. This gives the number of people in each council area taking part in the Zoe survey and the rate of infection. It changes daily. It’s quite worrying that there are still areas where the R rate is more than one.

NfkD that shows more than 8,000 new cases per day. That must be where the figure came from. Doesn't seem a low figure to me.

It varies from day to day quite considerably. It’s dropped a lot! It’s the regional figures I find interesting and makes a good case for local lockdowns/restrictions.

I can see that it’s very much a balancing act. Virus versus loss of jobs, etc.