You asked
Please provide the following information:
The weekly percentage of positive households in the survey that were the only case in the household from the 27th April until now.
The mean number of cases per household for each week from 27th April until now.
Absolute numbers of COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2020. I want data for those months not cumulative totals.
Absolute numbers of Non-COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2020.
Absolute numbers of Non-COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2019 or other data that would demonstrate pre-COVID ethnic distribution.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry. Please see the following answers to your questions.
1. The weekly percentage of positive households in the survey that were the only case in the household from the 27th April until now.
Unfortunately, we do not hold information on the exact number or percentage of households with only one positive test and are unaware of an alternative source for this information. Apologies that we could not be more helpful.
However, you may be interested in Tab 1d in the following link to our COVID-19 Infection Survey dataset: Coronavirus Infection Survey dataset, which accompanies our latest bulletin. In this dataset, we published the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 by non-overlapping 14-day periods. This analysis is from 8 May to 24 September.
2. The mean number of cases per household for each week from 27th April until now.
Unfortunately, we also do not hold information on the mean number of cases per household for each week from 27 April until now. As above, unfortunately we are unaware of an alternative source for this information. Apologies that we could not be more helpful.
3. Absolute numbers of COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2020. I want data for those months not cumulative totals.
All data for COVID-19 deaths by ethnicity can be found in the following publications:
Counts of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) and all deaths by ethnic group, England and Wales and Counts of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) and all deaths by ethnic group, Wales. This provides counts of coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by ethnic group in England and Wales from 2 March to 15 May 2020. An update to this publication will be available on 14 October 2020 and the information you have requested will be published on our website.
As such, the information you have requested 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. In this case, exempting the information clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
Ethnic group is not recorded on the death certificate; to enable us to undertake these analyses, death registrations up to 29 May 2020 have been linked to the 2011 Census, which allowed us to ascertain the self-reported ethnicity of the deceased and other demographic factors. Analyses have been restricted to those aged nine years and over because children aged under nine years would not have been born and therefore included in the 2011 Census. More details on the data used can be found in the technical appendix.
With regards to:
4. Absolute numbers of Non-COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2020.
and
5. Absolute numbers of Non-COVID deaths by ethnicity for April and May and June and July 2019 or other data that would demonstrate pre-COVID ethnic distribution.
Unfortunately, we would be unable to provide non-COVID-19 deaths by ethnicity for 2019 and 2020. In order to fulfil this request, we would need use a high level of statistical skill and judgement in order to create bespoke analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests. We therefore consider this to be information not held.