A review of how Covid-19 deaths are calculated in England has reduced the UK death toll by more than 5,000. The British Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) daily figures represents the number of reported deaths in all settings of people who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Previously, Public Health England (PHE) fed into this data by including anyone who had died following a positive coronavirus test at any point.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock ordered an urgent review into how PHE calculated Covid-19 death figures after researchers criticised "statistical flaws" in the way the deaths were reported.
Professors Yoon Loke and Carl Heneghan raised concerns that anyone who had ever tested positive for Covid-19 and then died was