Ireland ranks poorly in care home death comparisons

Figures contained in a Department of Health publication show Ireland with a high number of care home resident deaths, as a percentage of all Covid-19 deaths, as part of a rough comparison with 20 other countries.

It says that Canada, at 82%, has the highest number of care home resident deaths, as a percentage of all Covid-19 deaths listed.

It puts Ireland in second place, with the number of care home resident deaths, as a percentage of all deaths due to the virus, at 62%.

The report warns that international comparisons are difficult, due to different approaches to recording deaths, as well as differences in testing and policies.

The third ranked country on the list is France at 51%. Sweden is at 49%. Austria is at 41%, the US 41% and Portugal at 40%. 

The UK is ranked at between 38-52% depending on various criteria applied.

Some countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have no deaths in care homes listed.

The report notes that some countries only record the place of death, while others also report deaths in hospital of care home residents.

This National Public Health Emergency Team meeting paper, from 22 May, and published by the department, also says that official data on the number of people affected by Covid-19 is not available in many countries.

It points out that there have been large numbers of deaths in care homes in Italy, Spain, the UK and the US, but that official data for these countries is either incomplete, or difficult to interpret.

In countries where there have been at least 100 deaths in total, and there is official data, it says the percentage of Covid-19 related deaths among care home residents ranges from 24% in Hungary to 82% in Canada.

The paper is available on the Department of Health website and is called 'Overview of the Health System Response to date - Long-term residential healthcare settings'.

It was published yesterday along with a large volume of other material.