The average age of people who die of Covid is apparently older than British life expectancy. This can't be true can it?

[Treesofwood]

I've tried to find data rather than just a tweet and I can't. I did find something about the median age of deaths in France being 81. This can't be true either, surely? Median being the middle number if they were all lined up.
I knew it disproportionately impacted older people obviously, but surprised by this data.

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

I don’t understand why you find it surprising? A huge proportion of deaths have been in care homes with elderly residents most effected.

part of your answer is here

www.worldometers.info/demographics/uk-demographics/#life-exp

UK life expectancy 81.8 years (83.3 female - 80.2 males)

Looking at the By Age deaths from the UK corona data site for England, there is age data for 37,625 deaths.

The mean age would appear to be 79, and the median sits within the 80-84 group.

(both calculated using the table which groups people into age groups of 5 years and I have taken the mid point for calculation purposes)

Average coronavirus death north of the border is 81 for men and 85 for women
Life expectancy for a man in Scotland is 80-and-a-half and females live to 84
It suggests that a chunk of the patients who passed away might have died soon
Experts said it reinforces extraordinary impact age has on risk of Covid death

That was a quote from the Daily Mail about Scotland back in July. So seems likely to be the case UK wide.

Yes, the majority of deaths in England have been in those aged over 90 years.

Scroll down to figure 5 in the ONS data. Deaths in England by age. You need to scroll across to the 50y+ group to see any bars, as below that the numbers are so small to not be seen on the graph. Increasing cases as you get older than 50, but the majority are in the 90+ group.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurringinmay2020#characteristics-of-those-dying-from-covid-19

Yes, its what sensible people have been trying to say all along, they have just been shouted down by the #SaveLives brigade.

The government had to push the agenda that we are all equally vulnerable in order to ensure compliance with lockdown measures.

It was, and still is utter twaddle.

We have utterly trashed our whole way of life for want of a bit of critical thinking.

Sorry that graph is actually showing the age standardized mortality rate. Rather than raw number of deaths.

But your fact doesn't surprise me at all, the majority of people dying are very elderly.

...and if I were a cynical type, I would wonder if the core tory votership happened to be concentrated in the 18-30 age category, how different the government's response would have been.

but, but, but... I keep reading on MN about loads of fit marathon runners and cyclists in their 30s with no underlying health conditions dropping like flies...

"Life expectancy" is not a fixed term - so average uk life expectancy may be 88 years but if you survive your first year it is 91 years. If 65 now you can expect to live to 85 or 87 (because life expectancy will be higher for those born recently).

@NikeDeLaSwoosh

...and if I were a cynical type, I would wonder if the core tory votership happened to be concentrated in the 18-30 age category, how different the government's response would have been.

The UK's response is pretty similar to lots of other countries, so saying it's all down to Tories looking after core voters isn't really relevant. Similar restrictions have happened in socialist controlled countries too!

I worked in Critical Care during the worst of it. The average age on our unit were early - mid fifties. The oldest was mid sixties, the youngest was 17. There were patients on other wards, in side rooms. They were probably older.

@NikeDeLaSwoosh

Yes, its what sensible people have been trying to say all along, they have just been shouted down by the #SaveLives brigade.

The government had to push the agenda that we are all equally vulnerable in order to ensure compliance with lockdown measures.

It was, and still is utter twaddle.

We have utterly trashed our whole way of life for want of a bit of critical thinking.

^^ This.

Well said.

Of course it’s true, why would it not be? The impact has been overwhelmingly on the very elderly.

Does that mean that their lives don't matter? Would you say the same about people if it meant discriminating because of their colour or religion? How old should people die then?

Personally I think that a lot of younger, vulnerable people (like me) shielded succesfully, whereas older people still get infected by their carers etc.

Don’t forget, that 82 is life expectancy at birth. By the time you reach 82, your life expectancy is actually considerably longer - I think it’s another 8 or 9 years.

Makes perfect sense - we’ve had three mild winters and an e chess elderly population as a result. There’s been less than 400 people die under 65 with no underlying health condition

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8757587/BEN-SPENCER-analyses-dire-warnings-Patrick-Vallance-Chris-Whitty.html?ito=native_share_article-bottom
This article is from a couple of weeks ago but confirms the same as you.
This whole Covid situation is utterly ridiculous and I cannot wait until the majority of people finally wake up to see it and stop being controlled by the fear.
Every aspect of every life has been changed and restricted for a virus that most people need a test for to find out whether they even have it!

@rorosemary

Does that mean that their lives don't matter? Would you say the same about people if it meant discriminating because of their colour or religion? How old should people die then?

Personally I think that a lot of younger, vulnerable people (like me) shielded succesfully, whereas older people still get infected by their carers etc.

This old chestnut again.

Yes, I read the average age of covid death is 82 years

As far as I know the average age for death 'with' coronavirus is 82

Which is below the average life expectancy

They have said this right from the start, but people chose to listen to what they chose to listen to

My DS18 has it at the moment - in Uni halls - and they are all completely fine (it is absolutely rife there - I'd say 50% of the student village have it at the moment) and the risk to them is so very small. They are a bit 'coldy' and will probably be over it in a few days. And we all have some herd immunity in place.

If this were killing young healthy people there would be cause for panic....but as it is...in the words of Whitty "this is a mild disease for the majority"

Triangularbubble is right. The life expectancy at birth is meaningless for an older adult. If you make it to 80 you have an expectation of living a few years more!!

@HermioneWeasley

Makes perfect sense - we’ve had three mild winters and an e chess elderly population as a result. There’s been less than 400 people die under 65 with no underlying health condition

2 mild winters - 2017/18 saw the 'beast from the east' and 50,000 excess deaths from flu.

Agreed though, if you're shocked, you've been looking at anecdotes and not data.

@NikeDeLaSwoosh exactly! It’s like the virus was made to target Tory voters. Overweight, older men and older people. Obviously I’m joking and there are many exceptions but I think they would have targeted lockdowns by generation if it affected younger people.