Well this is, you know, a bit alarming and baffling:
Hundreds more people than usual are dying each week in England and Wales with Covid not to blame for the majority of deaths, new figures show.
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were 1,540 excess deaths in the week ending June 24 but only around 10 per cent were due to coronavirus.
Health experts have called for an urgent investigation into what is behind the excess mortality, with fears that the pandemic response, lack of access to healthcare and even the cost of living crisis, may be to blame.
That's it? Those are the only confounding factors that experts can theorize might be responsible for this crisis?
Seriously? They can conceive of nothing else out there that could possibly, maybe solve this mystery?
Ah well. At least they're thinking of, you know, every other conceivable explanation:
Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, at the University of East Anglia, said some of the excess could be people whose health was weakened by Covid. The infection is known to increase the risk of stroke and heart attacks. But he warned that there may be other more complex factors at play.
"Some might also be down to other impacts of the pandemic, such as problems in accessing health care, delayed referrals for treatment and then things related to the restrictions we lived under, such as reduced activity and sedentary lives," he said.
"I think the reality is going to be quite complex but it's something we do need to be aware of and actually try and understand."
Yes, yes, I agree completely.
Maybe they'll get there at some point.
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