Study has shown that during the pandemic there was a sharp rise in deaths, which were often not discovered for several weeks.
In the UK, post-mortems of’markedly’ decomposed bodies increased by 70% in response to the pandemic.
Researchers compared data over the twelve months preceding and following the March 23rd 2020 implementation of the first nationwide lockdown.
The study of Imperial College’s Healthcare Trust found that every body with severe decomposition was a person who lived alone.
According to the Clinical Pathology journal’s findings, many loved ones are left with no concrete answers about causes of death, including possible genetic disorders.
Imperial College Healthcare Trust stated that there had been a 71% increase in the number of bodies receiving post-mortems with signs decomposition.
It was found that 27% of the 104 posts-mortems between March 2020-2021 contained evidence of decomposition.
This decomposition was only found in 26 out of the 159 posts-mortems that were taken between March 2019 & March 2020.
Covid restrictions, which were first imposed March 2020, meant household mixing was greatly reduced.
Also, 38% of deaths in 2020/21 samples were not from home. This could be due to restrictions that were placed for many months.
The Telegraph was informed by Dr Theodore Estrin Serlui, co-author of this study: “This excessive in severe decay following death is usually a sign that the body has not been found for at least one week.”
According to ONS, over 60,000 additional deaths in private households have been reported since the beginning of the Covid epidemic.
The report found 252,486 people died in their private homes from January 2020 to June 2021.
It was found that home deaths were 38% higher than they were before the pandemic.
Since 2005, the number of home deaths in England and Wales have steadily increased. Thousands more chose to die at home than in a hospital.
However, the percentage rose nearly 30% in 2020 when compared with the previous year. This was because Britons were instructed to “stay home”, protect the NHS and save lives, after Covid’s attack.
According to the ONS, there were approximately 41,000 more deaths at home in 2020 than in 2019, and that number peaks in May.
Figures for 2021 show that there were almost 25,000 more home deaths than the average for this time period over the past five years. This casts doubt on lockdown as the only reason behind the increase.
Marie Curie’s director of research and policy, Dr Sam Royston told The Telegraph: “The pandemic is a stressful test to see how the health care system and our medical infrastructure can handle people dying at their homes.”
“And this data clearly demonstrates a system failing people at their most vulnerable.”
Family members and their loved ones may be prevented from finding the body for many weeks if it is not found.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesman sent condolences to those affected by the loss.
The group added that they were ‘extremely grateful’ to the NHS staff (including community nurses and volunteer district nurses) who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to provide end-of-life and palliative care to those in the hardest time of their lives.
The merits of lockdowns have been a subject of serious debate. It is unclear if these did more damage than good to the country’s health. They led people to avoid seeking out medical attention because of fears of getting the virus.
Experts called for additional research that will determine whether or not people prefer to die at their homes, or whether they are left with the burden of a failing system.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death at-home, with more than 25,000 deaths in 2020. Covid played only a small role in home deaths, affecting just 3,000.