In U.K.’s Omicron Wave, Many People Are Dying with Covid-19, Not from It

February 10, 2022

(Wall Street Journal) – For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the number of people dying in the U.K. with a recent positive Covid-19 test is significantly overstating the true death toll from the virus, according to new data. In recent weeks, a commonly watched measure of Covid-19 mortality—deaths within 28 days of a positive test—has been around 30% higher than the number of registered deaths involving Covid-19 and nearly 75% higher than the number of registered deaths where Covid-19 was named as the main cause. That gap contrasts with most of the pandemic, when those two metrics tracked one another closely—at least after the first wave, when a lack of testing capacity meant that the death certificate figures significantly exceeded deaths within 28 days of a positive test. (Read More)