Despite the number of deaths in Australia’s aged care homes climbing to 25 this week, the country is still doing far better in managing outbreaks compared to other countries where up to 67% of deaths are estimated have been recorded in residential care.
Check out the graph above of the latest data (Sunday, 3 May) from the International Long-term Care Policy Network (ILPN) and Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
As you can see, the data varies which makes comparisons difficult, but the figures are staggering.
In France, 12,511 of its 24,760 official deaths have been in aged care homes – or 51%.
In Ireland, 1,232 aged care deaths have been linked to COVID-19 – or 60% of its total deaths.
Canada is worse with its 3,566 aged care deaths making up 62% of its total COVID-19 deaths.
The United States – where deaths are estimated to top 16,000 at least, but no federal data is recorded yet – is conspicuous by its absence.
While Italy and Spain also don’t make the table, the authors say that the latest official data suggests that aged care residents make up 37% and a huge 67% of the COVID-19 deaths in those countries respectively.
