24 Sep 2021
Covid currently appears to contribute only 50% of all excess death relative to the 5 year average. This script downloads the latest National Records of Scotland data on Covid deaths and analyses metrics.
Covid and other causes of death are published by The National Records of Scotland at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats
The Government publishes "detailed analysis", which uses this data: https://data.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/detail.html
This "detailed analysis" notes that excess deaths have risen, and that Covid deaths have risen. It does not make clear that Covid deaths are only a fraction (this week, c. 50%) of all deaths.
QUESTION: How have non-Covid excess deaths varied throughout this year relative to Covid deaths? QUESTION: Where are they occurring? QUESTION: Is there evidence that non-Covid deaths are higher? QUESTION: Is there evidence that non-Covid deaths are being mis-coded as Covid deaths?
- Reproduce the chart showing 2021 deaths in relation to (2015-2019) deaths
- Evaluate excess/deficit in terms of causes