How Many Dead Bodies Haven't They Found Yet?

[MysticMeghan]

We hear all the time about people not wanting to "bother the NHS" because their symptoms are quite mild and we've all been told to wait it out at home and only spend 3 hours on hold to 111 if we are turning blue from lack of oxygen.

Seeing as we've all been self isolating for best part of 7 weeks and no-one's been round, it occurred to me that stories of European Care Homes full of dead bodies because all the staff are ill or have scarpered may not be the half of it. How many single people or entire families might have perished and no-one knows?

I know this sounds like a bad horror movie but not everyone has relatives skyping them every day to make sure they're ok.

28,446 may not be the half of it....

We were talking about this last week, I think months down the line quite a lot of people will be discovered dead at home. There are thousands who have no family or are estranged from them and nowadays people don’t even always know who there neighbours are.

Our county council is visiting vulnerable people that don't answer the phone. Probably partly for this reason.

Sadly, quite a lot I imagine.

Christ on a rubber bike, could this be a more depressing thread?

Bejasus. What a thing to think and question to ask.

Unless the whole families dies at exactly the same moment I doubt they'd find families.. surely if a family member died you call someone...

Grim but probably true.

Not just corona related either. I suspect there will be lots of people who have ignored other conditions that they may have previously sought help for due to not wanting to pressure the NHS. It's a very dismal and scary thought.

28,446 may not be the half of it....

This makes it sound like you think there’ll be more than 28k found dead at home???

Why do you think the Tories are so keen on keeping people at home, it helps hide the number of deaths they've caused.

Maybe the people who don't have anyone to check on them already live an isolated life, don't visit the shops often and keep themselves to themselves. A lot of single isolated people might actually come through this ok.

I actually think not many, may be in rural areas but councils visiting in urban areas who are known to be vulnerable and most people do actually have someone who is aware of their existence.

I don’t think it’s a weird thing to ask at all, I’ve been thinking for a while about poor people who are in their own who might get very ill and die in these circs. We should all as a society be thinking about them.

@megletthesecond that is a good point.

bluebrian oh for gods sake

I worry about this too.
Not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses too. Almost everyone who has a heart attack or a stroke at the moment will fall ill at home behind closed doors.

It is good that councils are checking on vulnerable people.
However I think that if possible everyone whose contact with the NHS ends with "see how it develops call us back if gets worse" should receive a welfare call if they live alone (or if they are the only adult in the house).
What if a single mum of young children becomes too unwell to phone for help herself....?? Any death is tragic, but an undetected death that leaves childen or vulnerable people alone is horrific.

The high threshold for hospital admittance does rather assume that someone else can call on your behalf.
I raised this on another thread and a poster did say she was offered a call back after phoning 111 with Covid symptoms (but she declined as she had a partner at home).
I hope that this "callback" is always offered and that there is a mechanism in place to escalate welfare concerns when someone does not answer.

I don't think it is just people who are normally isolated
Even quite busy, social people might not be noticed immediately due to social distancing.
It's not like most of us are going to work and popping round to each others houses etc.
If a friend doesn't post on a WhatsApp group for a while, and then doesn't answer their phone, how long before you escalate it?
Just as many don't want to "bother the NHS" many won't want to "bother the police" over what is most likely a flat phone battery or lie in (but might not be).

I think we should all do what we can to look out for each other, especially for those who live alone.

Any death is tragic, but an undetected death that leaves childen or vulnerable people alone is horrific.

This doesn’t bare thinking about.

As soon as we knew our death toll was going to be high, I started to worry about elderly people living alone and carers not making it if too many were off ill. It’s an awful thought.

Anyone who thinks this is very unlikely, a quick Google search revealed numerous instances of people visiting homes and "failing to notice" that someone was dead. And this was pre-Covid-19 when people had more reason to drop by:

www.klfm967.co.uk/news/klfm-news/2939191/carer-failed-to-notice-man-she-was-looking-after-was-dead/

www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/prison-staff-failed-to-notice-4-times-that-inmate-had-died-at-mountjoy-974571.html

metro.co.uk/2020/01/17/police-failed-notice-corpse-murder-victim-drugs-raid-12074005/

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/soldier-lay-dead-barracks-three-21458992

I think we should all do what we can to look out for each other, especially for those who live alone

^THIS

I work in the death 'industry' - lots of decomposed bodies coming in to the mortuary currently, all people who haven't been checked on for weeks.

There will also have been some undiscovered murders, domestic violence had hugely increased

Check your neighbours.

It is good that councils are checking on vulnerable people.
Ha, Ha, dream on, might be a very small minority of councils doing that but the majority certainly aren't, out there in the real world the help for vulnerable people is a shambles, with no contact being made, food supplies not turning up as promised, and minimal to non existent support being offered.

BlueBrian

I've heard it all now

I said the same thing at work recently. I do think that there will be quite a lot of people who have sadly passed away on their own in their homes without anyone being aware. There are many people who are watching out for others, however there will be many who are also only taking care of them and theirs. Please check up on those who live nearby and be aware of signs that all might not be ok