The coronavirus death rate in Wales is significantly higher than anywhere else in the UK

The day after Wales’ health minister refused to rule out further restrictions as coronavirus cases in hospitals hit a new record high, data shows that the coronavirus death rate in Wales is significantly higher than any other. UK place.

The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that the death rate in Wales for the week ending 27 November is a third higher than at the border in England.

During the week ending November 27, Wales recorded 218 deaths with Covid-19, yielding a death rate of 69.14 per million people.

Although this is five fewer deaths than the previous week, which had been the highest since early May, it still means that the death rate from coronavirus is considerably higher than the 50.14 deaths per million people in England .

The latest weekly figures from the ONS take us to November 27. At the time, Wales had enjoyed 18 days of less stringent restrictions after the fire lockdown ended on November 9.

In England, they were only in the middle of a four-week national shutdown that ended on December 2. During that second closure, pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops in England were forced to close for four weeks starting on November 5, even though schools, colleges and universities were allowed to remain open.

Elsewhere in the UK Public Health Scotland recorded 233 deaths in the week ending November 27, yielding a death rate of 42.65 per million. Nicola Sturgeon instigated a four-tier system of restrictions in Scotland, with more than two million people subject to the most stringent level four restrictions, on November 20.

Across the Irish Sea, Northern Ireland reported 81 deaths, equating to a death rate of 42.77 per million, according to data from the country’s research and statistics agency.

All death rate figures are based on the 2019 Stats Wales population estimate.

At the local authority level, there were 31 Covid-related deaths recorded in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT), ranked 13th in the 20 highest local authority areas in England and Wales for the week.

Neath Port Talbot, with 26 deaths, was ranked 19. In the two weeks since health officials warned that infections in the area could soon reach “catastrophic levels.”

Compared to other European countries, Wales ranks higher than France and Germany, but is considerably lower than Italy.

According to data compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in the week ending November 27, France had a death rate of 57.15 per million, Germany 23.56 per million and the Republic of Ireland only 5.3 per million. Italy’s death rate exceeds its European neighbors by 82.5.

Deaths overall – that is, deaths recorded across all settings – are nearly a quarter above what we would normally expect to see in the UK at this time of year.

The so-called excess deaths, which compares all registered deaths with previous years, is above the five-year average. Looking at the number of deaths that we would normally expect to see at this time of year is considered a useful measure of how the pandemic is progressing.

The area with the most deaths in Wales was the Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board area, which reported 62 deaths in the week ending November 27, 43 of them in hospitals.

There were also 44 deaths in the Aneurin Bevan health board area across all settings, 39 deaths in Swansea Bay, the highest number since early May, plus 23 in Betsi Cadwaladr and 21 in Cardiff and Vale.

There were 16 deaths in Hywel Dda and 13 deaths involving Powys residents, again the highest number since the beginning of May.

At the beginning of the week, Vaughan Gething hinted that another lockdown in Wales might be necessary to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed as the number of Covid-19 patients in the hospital soared to a record high.

There are currently more than 1,800 people in Welsh hospitals with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, the highest number on record and 400 more than the previous peak in April. Wales is now the only part of the UK where infection rates did not decline in late November.

It has led the Welsh Government to admit that it might have been better to introduce other curbs when the firewall was raised. Despite early signs showing that firewall blocking had an effect on virus cases, it was not enough.

On November 27, Prime Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The problem is that after the fire stop period, as people have mixed in, they have returned faster and further than we anticipated. It is possible that if we had had tighter restrictions on the firewall that could have made a difference. “