Deaths from COVID-19 of people with no underlying health conditions by age

You asked

Can I please have the number of deaths by COVID-19 of people with no underlying health conditions by age.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

We have been producing the following publication, Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales, in the response to COVID-19. This publication provides a greater insight into the leading underlying causes of death groups for deaths occurring in England and Wales between March and June 2020, including deaths from COVID-19 only by age-band.

We define a pre-existing condition here as the last health condition mentioned on the first part of the death certificate when it came before the coronavirus (COVID-19) or was an independent contributory factor in the death, mentioned in part II. Where only COVID-19 was recorded on the death certificate, or COVID-19 and subsequent conditions caused by COVID-19 were recorded, we refer to these deaths as having "No pre-existing conditions". Of the 50,335 deaths that occurred in March to June 2020 involving COVID-19 in England and Wales, 45,859 (91.1%) had at least one pre-existing condition, while 4,476 (8.9%) had none. Out of the recorded pre-existing conditions within this report, obesity is not recorded.

Notes:

1. Figures include deaths of non-residents

2. Figures are provisional

3. Based on deaths involving COVID-19 (ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2) rather than deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death

4. Deaths occurring between March and June 2020 rather than deaths registered between March and June 2020

5. Main pre-existing causes are grouped using the ONS Leading Causes of Deaths list (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/userguidetomortalitystatistics/leadingcausesofdeathinenglandandwalesrevised2016) and International Classification of Disease version 10 blocks of causes.

6. Including deaths registered up until 4 July 2020.

We are currently reassessing this publication and will be releasing an update soon analysing data from July onwards.

As such, the information you have requested from July 2020 onwards is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.

The final release date will be announced on our Release Calendar.