63006
  • Log in
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Forum
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Did Care Homes Achieve Focused Protection in the Second Wave?

by Noah Carl
2 June 2021 2:13 PM

Contrary to popular understanding, Britain’s second wave of COVID-19 was less deadly than the first: although there were more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, age-adjusted excess mortality was lower. 

One possible explanation is that fewer people were infected in the second wave (even though the infection fatality rate remained constant). However, data from the Coronavirus Infection Survey suggests that roughly the same number of people were infected in the two waves. About 7% of people had antibodies at the end of the first wave, and about 14% had antibodies toward the end of the second wave (before the vaccination program had gotten fully underway). 

Incidentally, some people may have been infected without developing antibodies. I’m using the number who developed antibodies as a proxy for the total number who were infected in each wave.

Another possible explanation is that we became better at treating the illness. Evidence suggests that thousands of lives were saved by corticosteroids like dexamethasone, but these may not have been widely used in the first wave. Yet another explanation is simply that there were fewer frail elderly people alive at the beginning of the second wave, meaning that the average elderly person who became infected was less likely to die from the disease. 

However, there’s possibly a fourth reason why the second wave was less deadly than the first, namely that care homes achieved a degree of focused protection.

In the first wave, a disproportionate number of those who died were care home residents. This is partly because elderly patients who’d caught the virus in hospital were discharged to care homes when they were still infectious, resulting in deadly outbreaks. Hence more effort was made to shield care home residents in the second wave. 

According to the ONS, there were 27,079 excess deaths in care homes during the first wave, but only 1,335 during the second wave:

This finding is supported by two recent academic studies. One study, published in Environmental Research, found that the percentage of COVID-19 deaths among care home residents was lower in the second wave in eight out of 11 countries with available data, including the UK. 

Another, unpublished study observed a major spike in excess mortality among care home residents last spring, but no increase during the final weeks of 2020.

While it’s too early to say exactly which factors explain the reduction in mortality between the two waves, the evidence presented here suggests that effective shielding of care home residents may have been a major contributor. Though it should be noted that care home occupancy was lower in the autumn and winter, which probably accounts for some of the disparity in excess deaths.

Perhaps if more attention had been paid to shielding in the first wave, Britain would have come through the pandemic with a lower death toll. 

This post has been updated.

Tags: Care homesExcess deathsFocused protection

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Time to “Move on” with Ending Lockdown, Says Government Adviser Sir John Bell

Next Post

Almost 40% Of Recent Covid Victims Died Primarily of Other Conditions

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

24 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

Nick Dixon and Toby Young Talk About Toby’s Appearance on the 77th Brigade’s Watch List, the Scrubbing of the Internet After the Pfizer Sting and the Trans Insanity Unfolding in Scotland

by Will Jones
31 January 2023
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editors Picks

MIT Expert on Drug Safety Calls for Immediate Withdrawal of mRNA Vaccines: “Clearly the Most Failing Medical Product in History, Causing Unprecedented Harm”

30 January 2023
by Will Jones

How Safe Really is 5G?

1 February 2023
by Gillian Jamieson

News Round-Up

1 February 2023
by Will Jones

An Honest Voice at Last

1 February 2023
by Thorsteinn Siglaugsson

How the Unvaccinated Got It Right

1 February 2023
by Robin Koerner

Elderly Vaccination Saved Lives in East Asia

49

How Safe Really is 5G?

33
Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10421665ds)
Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg addresses world leaders at the start of the 2019 Climate Action Summit which is being held in advance of the General Debate of the General Assembly of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 23 September 2019. World Leaders have been invited to speak at the event, which was organized by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for the purpose of proposing plans for addressing global climate change. The General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly begins on 24 September.
United Nations 2019 Climate Action Summit, New York, USA - 23 Sep 2019

Elite Billionaire Foundations Fund Wave of Green Climate Propaganda Flooding into British Schools

36

How the Unvaccinated Got It Right

20

Popularity of St. Jacinda’s Party Soars After Her Resignation

18

How the Unvaccinated Got It Right

1 February 2023
by Robin Koerner

An Honest Voice at Last

1 February 2023
by Thorsteinn Siglaugsson

How Safe Really is 5G?

1 February 2023
by Gillian Jamieson

Elderly Vaccination Saved Lives in East Asia

31 January 2023
by Noah Carl
Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10421665ds)
Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg addresses world leaders at the start of the 2019 Climate Action Summit which is being held in advance of the General Debate of the General Assembly of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 23 September 2019. World Leaders have been invited to speak at the event, which was organized by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for the purpose of proposing plans for addressing global climate change. The General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly begins on 24 September.
United Nations 2019 Climate Action Summit, New York, USA - 23 Sep 2019

Elite Billionaire Foundations Fund Wave of Green Climate Propaganda Flooding into British Schools

31 January 2023
by Chris Morrison

POSTS BY DATE

June 2021
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« May   Jul »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Forum
  • Donate
  • Newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Please note: To be able to comment on our articles you'll need to be a registered donor

Already have an account?
Please click here to login Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment