Mortality associated with COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes: early international evidence
Adelina Comas-Herrera (CPEC, LSE) and Joseba Zalakain (SIIS)
12th April, 2020
Key findings:
Official data on the numbers of people affected by COVID-19 is not available in many countries
Due to differences in testing availabilities and policies, and to different approaches to recording deaths, international comparisons are difficult
Data from 3 epidemiological studies in the United States show that as many as half of people with COVID-19 infections in care homes were asymptomatic (or pre-symptomatic) at the time of testing
Data from 5 European countries suggest that care home residents have so far accounted for between 42% and 57% of all deaths related to COVID-19.