Health body criticised over COVID-19 figures

Public Health Wales has been blasted by Powys county councillors for publishing misleading figures showing the number of deaths connected to Covid-19 in the county.

This morning, PHW is reporting that 14 people have sadly died, well below the more reliable figure of 86 reported by the Office for National Statistics.

Both Powys County Council (PCC) and Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) are using data from the ONS rather than PHW to monitor and deal with the pandemic.

Councillor David Jones said: “The risk is the misreporting of facts, every evening on the Welsh television news at 6.30pm, they say there have been 13 deaths (now 14) through Coronavirus in Powys.

“That it absolute piffle and dribble, it’s a figure by Public Health Wales that does not include anybody who died in hospital in Shrewsbury or Hereford. That nonsense goes out every night and it makes people think there is no risk in Powys, and is lulling a lot of people into a false sense of security. Is anything being done?” he asked fellow councillors.

Councillor Karen Laurie-Parry told councillors that she had written to  First Minister Mark Drakeford MS and her local MS, Kirsty Williams, asking them to support the PCC Chief Execultive, Dr Caroline Turner, in her plea to use ONS figures.

Portfolio holder for Finance, Councillor Aled Davies, said: “The ONS figures are far more accurate but there is a time lag with those, I know the chief executive has written to the Welsh Government to try and make sure the figures reported are more accurate. It’s a frustration, there is no doubt about it.

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporting Service