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Excess deaths

(10 Posts)
Daisymae Fri 15-Jul-22 08:57:03

Listening to John Campbell in YouTube this week and he was talking about the excess death rate in the UK which he states is nearly 16 percent equating to over 1300 people per week. Deaths over and above seasonal norms. There are some obvious answers - delayed treatment following lockdowns, plus the emotional toll and stress. It does seem though that it's time for a serious investigation into the causes and analysis of what is going on. I think that I'm going to stop listening to him as it's getting depressing!

M0nica Fri 15-Jul-22 09:16:11

Have you checked the source of his figures? His views are considered contentious and verging on the unreliable.

Here are the official tables app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmUwNmFhMjYtNGZhYS00NDk2LWFlMTAtOTg0OGNhNmFiNGM0IiwidCI6ImVlNGUxNDk5LTRhMzUtNGIyZS1hZDQ3LTVmM2NmOWRlODY2NiIsImMiOjh9.

Doesn't seem to be anything exceptional. Some months are less than expected some more, Norml variation as far as I can see.

Has he done any proper statistical analysis of his figures. the numbers you quote would seem to me to probably lie within normal statistical variation.

Blossoming Fri 15-Jul-22 10:21:12

16% of what? The UK population is around 66 million, so 1,300 deaths per week seems like a very small number to me.

Daisymae Fri 15-Jul-22 10:31:17

www.theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/957270/non-covid-excess-deaths-why-are-they-on-the-rise
It's not just Campbell commenting.

martinthebandit Fri 15-Jul-22 10:44:08

Stop listening to John Campbell and find a more reliable news source.

M0nica Fri 15-Jul-22 10:51:50

It looks like normal variation at this point. I think the trend needs to run for sometime more before it becomes statisticaslly significant. Just go back to my previous link and see how variable the figures can be.

Daisymae Fri 15-Jul-22 11:02:18

Quote from the ONS 'the number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 24 June 2022 (Week 25) was 12,278, which was 15.9 % above the five-year average (1,682 excess deaths); of these deaths, 346 involved COVID-19, which was 37 more than in Week 24.'

growstuff Fri 15-Jul-22 11:04:15

I don't know what conclusions are supposed to be drawn from Campbell's claims. The causes of death hasn't been released yet by the ONS, although the totals have. The latest statistics are for May 2022.

I can't see anything terribly significant there. Dementia/Alzheimers is the leading cause of death, followed by ischaemic heart diseases and chronic lower respiratory diseases and cancer. The differences with the five year average aren't significant. Cerebrovascular diseases and flu/pneumonia are down.

What point is Campbell trying to make?

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/may2022#leading-causes-of-death

M0nica Fri 15-Jul-22 11:09:41

growstuff Couldn't agree more.

M0nica Fri 15-Jul-22 21:46:14

Daisymae check out thelink that growstuff gave. These figures are provisional and subject to revision. Thy are also subject to other standardised comparisons.

If you read her link. There are some very interesting facts and discussions about the death figures and essentially the current unrevised raw data figures do not necessarily reflect the realsituation, but read the link and study it for yourself.