You asked
Please can you provide the following information:
With regards to your Weekly Deaths Publication, please can you confirm the number of deaths which have been recorded in both the ICD-10 J00-J99 category and the deaths that have also been recorded in the ICD U07.1 and U07.2 weekly figures.
In other words how many deaths have been double-counted in both categories?
We said
Thank you for your request.
Provisional mortality data for 2020 are only released via our weekly and monthly mortality analysis publications under special measures with a provisional caveat. Given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have increased our output of provisional data to aid specialist modelling work and to provide further information alongside our weekly deaths publication. However, we have not undertaken the specific analysis requested. In order to fulfil your request we would need to create bespoke analysis for you. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests.
Based on user feedback, we have changed the way we report weekly deaths to provide better clarity on the statistics we are reporting. Starting from 3 November 2020 we have added Figure 2 to the publication which now includes the number of deaths due to COVID-19, number of deaths due influenza and pneumonia as well as deaths involving the aforementioned conditions. Where the deaths are referred to as 'due to', only the condition mentioned is involved and there is no double counting. On the other hand, 'deaths involving' any named condition will have an element of double counting.
You may also be interested in our monthly mortality analysis, which looks at COVID-19 deaths by pre-existing condition (March to June) and leading cause of death (July to September). These are available via the following links:
Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales (July to September)
Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales (March to June)
You may also be interested in the following publication: Deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) compared with deaths from influenza and pneumonia, England and Wales.