Is the government being completely honest about the Covid-19 death toll in Milton Keynes?

That's because - as the MK Citizen published last week - the number of deaths in care homes and in the community are not included in the official daily updates.

Last Wednesday we revealed that, sadly, 32 elderly people had died from suspected Covid-19 in care homes and sheltered housing schemes throughout MK.

Today, Public Health England's death toll for MK is 73. These were all patients that had died at Milton Keynes Hospital after testing positive.

Today the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its weekly statistics for deaths in the community. And their figure for Covid-19 related fatalities was 41 per cent than that released by the government.

The ONS update shows 1,662 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered outside of hospitals in England and Wales in the week up to April 10. Some 1,043 of these took place in care homes, 466 in private homes, 87 in hospices, 21 in other "communal establishments " and 45 elsewhere.

The Public Health England figure for hospital deaths over the same period is 8,673.

If the same ratio is applied to Milton Keynes, it means the true death toll is well into treble figures.

Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall said the ONS figures showed the "terrible toll" coronavirus is taking on care homes.

She is now demanded the government publish daily figures of Covid-19 deaths outside hospital so the true scale of the problem can be known.

"This is essential to tackling the spread of the virus, ensuing social care has the resources it needs and getting vital PPE and testing to care workers on the frontline," she said.

"These awful figures are only scratching the surface of the emerging crisis in social care because they are already 11 days out of date,” she said.

In MK Labour councillors are also asking to be kept informed about the number of care home deaths. But the information is difficult to acquire, said one.

"Part of the problem with care home deaths is that no-one is actually legally responsible or has the mandate to collect it," he said.

Last week a council source reported there had been nine deaths in one small Milton Keynes care home alone since the start of the pandemic.

Worryingly, GPs will often not visit a dying resident in a care home due to the risk of infection.

"I understand that GPs are not visiting care homes and most older people are not being admitted to hospital. It is being left to care staff to help people who are seriously ill," said the Citizen's source.

Many dedicated care home workers are working extra hours to help the sick residents. Some have even moved in temporarily to the care home to avoid infecting their families at home.

"It's a horrible situation. We need to see the government being completely honest about what is happening in our care homes," said the council source.