You asked
We are still awaiting your statistics on ethnicity of care home deaths.
Please also publish a breakdown (in numbers) the figures out of over 42,000 deaths, by ethnicity.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We have recently updated our figures on 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by ethnic group, England and Wales' . Table 2 from the release can be found below. This provides details of COVID-19 related deaths by ethnic group. Please note, the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the table is 37,956 deaths and not 42,000. This is owing to the ethnicity data only being available for the period that our analysis covered (2 March to 15 May 2020).
| Ethnic group | | COVID-19 deaths | Percentage of COVID-19 deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | | 33,630 | 88.6 |
| | English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British | 32,160 | 84.7 |
| | Irish | 666 | 1.8 |
| | Gypsy or Irish Traveller | 16 | 0 |
| | Other White | 788 | 2.1 |
| Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups | | 252 | 0.7 |
| | White and Black Caribbean | 86 | 0.2 |
| | White and Black African | 31 | 0.1 |
| | White and Asian | 53 | 0.1 |
| | Other Mixed | 82 | 0.2 |
| Asian /Asian British | | 2,355 | 6.2 |
| | Indian | 1,011 | 2.7 |
| | Pakistani | 551 | 1.5 |
| | Bangladeshi | 222 | 0.6 |
| | Chinese | 137 | 0.4 |
| | Other Asian | 434 | 1.1 |
| Black/African/Caribbean/Black British | | 1,513 | 4 |
| | African | 481 | 1.3 |
| | Caribbean | 911 | 2.4 |
| | Other Black | 121 | 0.3 |
| Other ethnic group | | 206 | 0.5 |
| | Arab | 63 | 0.2 |
| | Other Ethnic Group | 143 | 0.4 |
| Total | | 37,956 | 100 |
Download this table Table 2: Number and percentage of deaths involving COVID-19 by ethnic group, England and Wales, deaths occurring between 2 March and 15 May 2020
.xls .csvNotes:
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures based on death registrations up to 29 May 2020 that occurred between 2 March and 15 May 2020 that could be linked to the 2011 Census for the coronavirus (COVID-19) rate of death.
The total number of deaths occurring in this period will differ to other publications for the same period because we have only included deaths that could link to the 2011 Census among the usually resident population.
Deaths were defined using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19 include those with an underlying cause, or any mention, of ICD-10 codes U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) or U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified).
Unfortunately, we would be unable to provide you with an ethnic breakdown of the 42,000 deaths noted in your request, nor the ethnic breakdown of COVID-19 deaths in care homes. In order to fulfil this request, we would need use a high level of statistical skill and judgement in order to extract the data and create a 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. We therefore consider this to be information not held.
However, we are continuously exploring methods for disaggregating our data further, and more granular analysis of deaths in care homes is something that we are certainly striving to provide.
Please see the following publication which may be of interest: Deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector, England and Wales: deaths occurring up to 12 June 2020 and registered up to 20 June 2020 (provisional). Section 4 of the release provides a breakdown of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) by sex and age-group.
If you would like further information or discuss the information provided in more detail, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.