Is it appropriate to report one covid death?

[RosieLemonade]

I really feel like if it is less than 10 then it should be reported as less than 10? Obviously if we had 0 that should be reported but I don't see the point in reporting 5 deaths or lower in the news.

Yes I know the low number is due to the bank holiday.

I assumed that because it was a notifiable disease the case numbers and deaths had to be reported to the WHO. These numbers are then in the public domain.

The government put these figures on their website so people can see the raw data rather than the media spin

My aunt died a few weeks ago and was one of 22 reported even that was hard.

No one will know it is their relative, unless they work in reporting it, becayse of the way the timing works.

I think it’s appropriate right now as we are seeing the drop and people want to know. We are still in lockdown due to it.

But I think it needs to stop in June when restrictions are lifted. I do t think misleading rhe public and saying we won’t tell you exactly is a good plan.

It must be very hard for the family of that one person, and for families of others whose deaths have recently been within the lower figures recently, but I think it would be worse to stop reporting the numbers just because the death rates are now such low numbers. If the single death had not been reported, the bereaved family might feel more offended, as it might somehow give the impression that their loss was somehow irrelevant, as it wasn't part of a large number in that time period.

Also, I think many people are waiting for the day when the number reported is zero. Even though many thousands have lost their lives, when that zero is announced I think it will feel like we've finally turned the corner.

@Pinchoftums I'm sorry for your loss.

@UrbanRambler thank you.

Even when the deaths were running at one a minute, rather than one a day, they were still loved ones. And all those people matter

(and as its numbers over a Bank Holiday weekend, they may not be accurate anyhow, there was always a drop over a weekend for admin reasons)

Yes, I think numbers should still be reported, because it's in the public interest to know how prevalent the disease is, and how effectively we are treating it.

The reporting cycle for cases and deaths from an infectious disease are bound to be different than those for other causes. It's the same for flu - there are weekly reports in the flu season, but not for other times (weekly not daily as the numbers are so much lower, and it's not a novel pathogen with potential for extremely harmful exponential rise) and longer intervals for other (less or non infectious causes)

Looking at death rates on average, covid is just losing it's position as the leading weekly cause of death.

This is thoroughly good progress

No one will know it is their relative, unless they work in reporting it, becayse of the way the timing works.

I was going to say the same, but then on the other hand a lot of people don't realise this (as demonstrated by this thread) so there's probably a few people thinking it's their relative even if it's not.

I think it must be hard if people are (understandably) reacting to the news like "hooray, only five people died today!" when your loved one is one of the five. But clearly the number of people dying still needs to be made available somehow even if it's not reported all over the news, so I don't think there's a good way round that.