Note: The editor takes responsibility for the headline.
From stewartb
On the issue of ‘excess deaths’ statistics: given the ‘morass’ of Covid-19 mortality data and the scope it provides for confusion and obfuscation, ‘excess deaths’ are likely to be the most reliable single indicator of the overall public health impact of this pandemic.
However, excess (all causes) deaths data for the nations of the UK and the comparable data in Europe – all of which are readily available – seem to have been largely airbrushed out of UK corporate media and BBC coverage.
The prime source of these data is EuroMOMO and in particular its standardised ‘z-scores’.
See: https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps/
The graphs of z-scores (found towards the end of the information at the above link) reveals England as a marked outlier in terms of its extremely high excess deaths in recent weeks.
In case anyone doubts the credentials of the EuroMOMO data source and its z-score algorithm, this is a source that Public Heath England routinely relies upon as part of its surveillance function.
Finally, let’s try a ‘thought experiment’: imagine that in the EuroMOMO graphs for England and Scotland we switch the names round. It is Scotland’s z-score that is the extreme outlier not only in the UK but also in Europe. Now what would you expect the nature of the corporate media and BBC coverage to be like?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
“They [researchers Comas-Herrera and Fernandez] said that from 13 March to 1 May, there were 19,938 “excess deaths” in care homes – that is above the average number of deaths for the same weeks in the previous five years. Only 8,310 of these were specifically linked to Covid-19 by the ONS – reflecting the declarations of care homes, rather than on death certificates. The researchers added that deaths of care home residents in hospitals are not currently accounted for in the ONS figures and that around 15% of deaths of care home residents happen in hospitals, and that this figure could even be higher.
“Data on deaths in care homes directly attributed to Covid-19 underestimate the impact of the pandemic on care home residents, as they do not take account of indirect mortality effects of the pandemic and/or because of problems with the identification of the disease as the cause of death,” said the report authors, Adelina Comas-Herrera and Jose-Luis Fernandez.
“Data on registered Covid-19 deaths in care homes in England and Wales only accounts for an estimated 41.6% of all excess deaths in care homes. Not all care home residents die in care homes … Calculating total excess mortality in care homes since 28 December and adjusting this by the assumption that 15% of care home residents die in hospital, suggests that by 1 May there had been in excess of 22,000 deaths of care home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic – 54% of all excess mortality – in England and Wales.””
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/13/coronavirus-real-care-home-death-toll-double-official-figure-study-says?CMP=share_btn_tw
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Another thought experiment.
Imagine Severin Carrell did his job.
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Care homes have been a lie from the start
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The UK’s stats (dominated by England’s) have been manipulated from the outset by the “Spin” merchants. Their dilemma was the disparity between Covid attributed and excess deaths, but with the numbers now involved, they need a get out of jail card for the inevitable post-mortem.
Given their callous disregard for all but public perception, it would be no surprise if the inevitable surge from “Stay Alert” somehow enables them to cover up, with blame passed to the public for not being alert enough.
The more sickening role MSM played in this (with a few rare exceptions) raises massive questions over claims of “impartiality”.
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