Death toll may be exaggerated: UK government to pause daily updates
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Experts said coronavirus patients will be counted in the death toll even if they recover and later have 'a heart attack or were run over by a bus three months later'.
After announcing a partial reopening of the economy, the UK government has decided to pause publishing of the daily coronavirus tally after detecting a possibility of having the wrong figures displayed.
The UK government on Saturday said that it suspects the toll might have been exaggerated.
"Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death," a message on the government's website said.
"There have been claims that the lack of cut-off may distort the current daily deaths number. We are therefore pausing the publication of the daily figure while this is resolved," it further read.
The UK government also feels that the international comparisons are misleading as different countries record the death toll in different ways. UK's death toll is a little over 45,000.
Experts believe that Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures in England means they may be distorted compared to other parts of the United Kingdom.
Health Minister Matt Hancock has ordered an investigation into the PHE's reporting after experts reported that coronavirus patients will be counted in the death toll even if they recover and later have "a heart attack or were run over by a bus three months later".
(With inputs from agencies)