FILE PHOTO: Blood samples from patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are prepared for analysis in the Blood Processing Laboratory at the Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Cambridge, Cambridge, Great Britain , May 21, 2020. Kirsty Wigglesworth / Pool via REUTERS / File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Saturday it was pausing its daily update of the death toll from the coronavirus after the government ordered a revision of the data calculation over concerns that the figure may have been exaggerated.
Academics have said that the way Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for controlling infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the numbers in England means that they may be distorted compared to other parts of the UK.
“Currently, the daily deaths measure counts all people who tested positive for coronavirus and since they died, with no limit between the time of the test and the date of death,” said a message on the government website.
“There have been claims that failure to cut can distort the current number of daily deaths. Therefore, we are pausing the publication of the daily figure while it is resolved.”
Britain has been the European country most affected by the virus, with an official death toll of over 45,000. But the government has said international comparisons are misleading because countries report deaths from coronavirus differently.
Health Minister Matt Hancock ordered a review of PHE reports on Friday after academics said patients who tested positive for coronavirus but were successfully treated would still be counted as dying from the virus “even if they had a heart attack or were hit by a bus three months later. ”
Report by Michael Holden; Editing by Ros Russell
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