__Menu ![\\"Return](\\"/static/img/ff-logo.a3c246edc83d.png\\"/) Donate * Fact checks ## Fact checks Our fact checking systematically raises standards in public debate and changes the behaviour of powerful actors * All fact checks * Latest * Health * Crime * Education * Climate * Tax * Cost of living * Politics Live * Campaigns ## Campaigns We’re campaigning to tackle bad information online, protect our elections and improve the quality of information in public debate * Campaigns * Follow: WhatsApp * Subscribe: Email * Read: Blog * Asks of the new government * Supporter interventions * Your MP * Policy ## Policy Our policy work aims to improve the information environment, in order to protect and encourage good public debate * Policy * Reports * Framework for information incidents * Research * The Full Fact Report * Letters & submissions * The Online Safety Act * Full Fact AI ## Full Fact AI Our technology and training work is designed to help everyone work faster and smarter * Full Fact AI * Full Fact Training * About Full Fact AI * About ## About Bad information ruins lives. We’re a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm it does * Who we are * How we fact check * After we fact check * Our team * Contact us * Jobs * Funding * Independence * Impartiality * Feedback & corrections * FAQs * International networks * Search 1. Health / 2. Coronavirus # Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today 20 July 2021 ##### What was claimed No more than 100,000 people have died of Covid in the UK. ##### Our verdict Incorrect. So far, 124,082 deaths have been recorded in England and Wales alone, where Covid itself was the underlying cause. ##### What was claimed People who die of Covid would probably have died within a year. ##### Our verdict This is not supported by the evidence. Research suggests people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. ##### What was claimed Only hundreds, not thousands, of people have died of Covid without any other pre-existing condition mentioned on their death certificate. ##### Our verdict Incorrect. There were 15,883 deaths recorded with no pre-existing condition in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. __1 of 3 claims > The virus has not killed over 100,000 people. What has happened is that a > very large number of people have died with Covid, but not necessarily of > Covid. The definition is anybody who has died within 28 days of a positive > test is treated as a Covid death. > > Lord Sumption, 20 July 2021 [1:18:38]. The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. Honesty in public debate matters You can help us take action – and get our regular free email Sign up ### More than 100,000 people have died “of” Covid First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. ### On average, people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.\" [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before. ### Thousands of people without comorbidities have died of Covid Lord Sumption also said: \"The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It\'s a matter of hundreds and not thousands.\" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher. * By Leo Benedictus * Share this: * Twitter * Facebook ## Was this helpful? Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics. Support Full Fact today ### Related fact checks * Fenbendazole is not a proven treatment for cancer in people * Guardian corrects article about GPs refusing to give prostate cancer tests to black men * How many people were treated in Covid-19 Nightingale hospitals? * Nurofen tablets do not contain graphene oxide * Having high cholesterol is not better for your health * Did you find this fact check useful? * Yes No ## Full Fact fights bad information Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better. 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People who die of Covid would probably have died within a year