The headline screams: 2020 saw most excess deaths since World War Two!

But a look at the actual chart suggests it's another case of 'Don't let the truth get in the way of a good headline'. The headline didn't take into account the size of the population - just the total number of deaths. It also didn't weight it for age - i.e. the proportion of elderly in the population is way higher than it was during WW2.

We also don't know how many excess deaths were caused due to Covid measures as opposed to the disease itself.

Here's the actual chart. It shows a slight increase in deaths but still much better than it was 20 years ago.

As we've said many times, Covid is not nothing - it's equivalent to a serious flu strain - but has it been overblown compared to a serious flu outbreak? And will we have to go through all this again the next time we have a serious flu outbreak?

Wow. What an altogether unremarkable article with a sensational headline. So, excess deaths were lower in 2020 than they were in, say 2008. I'm not sure if I should be alarmed or relieved, or just confused. Of course, most people will only read the headline.

In short, it's click bait and it sells advertising. Way to go BBC!