For months now, countries around the world have been publicizing ominous “coronavirus trackers” that count up to grim “milestones,” including the numbers of cases and deaths.
Now, England is changing how it does one metric: the daily death count.
According to The Telegraph, Matt Hancock, Britain’s health secretary, ordered a review of how daily fatality statistics were reported after scientists noted that deaths were being “over-exaggerated.”
Experts at Oxford University revealed that deaths were added to the coronavirus death count even if the decedent tested positive for the virus weeks or months ago, and even in cases where it was clear the virus was not a contributing factor.
“Under the previous system, anyone who has ever tested positive for the virus in England was automatically counted as a coronavirus death when they died, even if the death was from a car accident,” The Telegraph reported.