False social media claims over Shropshire's Covid death toll rejected
Health officials have moved to reject online claims that only 10 people have died from Covid in Shropshire – saying people should be in no doubt that the true figure is in the hundreds.
A screenshot of a response to a Freedom of Information Request has been widely shared on Facebook over the past few days, by users arguing that only a handful of people have died from Covid in the county.
The current combined Covid death toll for the county's NHS Trusts, as of today, is actually 494 – with 459 at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), six at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry, and 29 at Shropshire Community Health Trust.
The Office for National Statistics also says that 257 people have died with Covid in the county's care homes.
The screenshot has been used to present the number to have died at Shropshire Community Health Trust between March last year and January this year, which was 28 – as the total for the entire county.
This is a significant misrepresentation of the truth as the figure does not include the number of deaths at SaTH – where the overwhelming number of Covid patients are treated, and have died in Shropshire.
David Stout, Chief Executive for Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust, said that people should be under no illusions that the number of Covid deaths in the county is in the hundreds.
He said that the FOI response had actually been issued in error and was subsequently rescinded – although that was too late to stop it being shared on social media.
He said: “Hundreds of people have died in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin since the start of the pandemic – most of those either in care home settings or in one of our two acute hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford.
“This is a terrible virus that has had a devastating impact on so many lives and so many families. No-one should be in any doubt about that.
“This FOI response was issued in error and we apologise for the confusion it has caused. It was rescinded as soon as it came to light, and an updated response issued.
“The figure of 10 deaths refers only to patients who have died in the community hospitals we run, with covid as a primary cause, during the period covered by the FOI request. It should be noted that during this period a total of 28 people have died in those community hospitals with covid as a significant factor.”
