You asked
Please can you tell me the exact number of deaths caused directly by COVID-19 (not the figure that is published that is any reason within 28 days of a positive test result)?
We said
Thank you for your request.
Our mortality data are derived from the formal process of death registration.
We use the term "due to COVID-19" when referring only to deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate.
We use the term "involving COVID-19" when referring to deaths that had COVID-19 mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.
Our data are therefore different from the COVID-19 death figures published on the government's COVID-19 dashboard, which shows 'deaths within 28 days of a positive test'. You may be interested in the following link to a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used.
Information on deaths "due to COVID-19" for 2020 are presented in the downloadable datafile under Figure 2 of the following bulletin: Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional. This publication is updated every Tuesday.
Total deaths registered between weeks 1 and 52 in 2020 "due to COVID-19": 70,703.
If you would like to discuss these statistics further, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.