Britain pauses daily update of death toll from COVID-19 after experts warn miscalculation

Britain, on July 19, said that it was pausing its daily update of the COVID-19 death toll after experts asserted that the calculation of data might be exaggerated. Currently, the government has ordered a review of the calculations made by Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks in the UK.

'Figures might be distorted' 

According to academicians, the method used by PHE  to calculate the figures may be distorted. "Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between the time of testing and date of death," a message on the government's website said. Adding further, they wrote that the lack of cut off might distort the current daily death numbers, therefore, they were pausing the publication of daily figures until the issue is resolved.

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The UK has reported 2,95,632 cases and 45,358 cases until now. However, the government has said international comparisons are misleading as different nations record COVID-19 differently. Meanwhile, experts in the country have developed a new antibody test that can produce the results of coronavirus exposure within minutes, according to reports. The fingerprick tests that British ministers are planning to distribute were reportedly found to be 98.6 per cent accurate. The United Kingdom's earlier and the only antibody tests used to take days to tell whether the tested person has ever been exposed to the deadly disease or not. The new antibody tests were developed by the UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC) in partnership with Oxford University. 

The tests have passed first major trials and are awaiting approval from regulatory board following which it will likely be distributed to tens and thousands of families across the United Kingdom. According to reports, mass production of the new antibody tests is taking at full pace on the behest of British Ministers, who are planning to use it for mass screenings. As per reports, a test specific app and digital service will also be facilitated that will be used in the reading of the test device and will have the ability to integrate with National Health System (NHS) systems and update records.

Image credits: AP

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