Is it time to measure Covid differently?

According to government figures the toll of Covid 19 so far has been 124,419 deaths (if you define a Covid death as any death which occurs within 28 days of someone being confirmed as infected with the virus) or 140,062 (if you define a Covid death as one where the word ‘Covid’ is mentioned anywhere on a death certificate – regardless of whether they have produced a positive tests). These are figures which have been compared with Jumbo Jet-loads or matched up against the loss of life in the Somme. But should we really be using raw death figures – which are hugely emotive – to influence decisions as to how to handle the pandemic?

Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the LSE and his colleagues have made a case for using a broader measure of the impact of Covid, which takes into account life-years lost as well as the loss of wellbeing among the population at large.