Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional: week ending 18 September 2020

• The number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 18 September 2020 (Week 38) was 9,523; this was 288 fewer deaths than in Week 37.
• In Week 38, the number of deaths registered was 2.8% above the five-year average (259 deaths higher).
• Of the deaths registered in Week 38, 139 mentioned “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, accounting for 1.5% of all deaths in England and Wales; this is an increase compared with Week 37 (40 deaths higher).
• The numbers of deaths in hospitals and care homes were below the five-year average in Week 38 (365 and 68 fewer deaths respectively), while the number of deaths in private homes remained above the five-year average (711 more deaths).
• The number of deaths involving COVID-19 increased in six of the nine English regions; the North East and London were the only English regions to have fewer overall deaths than the five-year average.
• In Wales, the number of deaths involving COVID-19 increased from one death (Week 37) to five deaths (Week 38), while the total number of deaths in Week 38 was 20 fewer deaths than the five-year average.
• The number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 18 September 2020 (Week 38) was 10,784, which was 257 deaths higher than the five-year average but 361 deaths fewer than Week 37; of the deaths registered in the UK in Week 38, 158 deaths involved COVID-19, 48 deaths higher than Week 37.

Figure 1: Deaths in England and Wales involving COVID-19 increased for the second consecutive week

Number of deaths registered by week, England and Wales, 28 December 2019 to 18 September 2020

The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales decreased from 9,811 in Week 37 (week ending 11 September 2020) to 9,523 in Week 38 (week ending 18 September 2020) (Figure 1). The number of deaths was 2.8% above the five-year average (259 deaths higher).

The number of death registrations in England and Wales involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) increased from 99 in Week 37 to 139 in Week 38 (a 40.4% increase). Of all deaths registered in Week 38, 1.5% mentioned COVID-19.

In England, the number of deaths decreased from 9,215 in Week 37 to 8,955 in Week 38, which was 292 deaths higher than the Week 38 five-year average. Of the Week 38 deaths, 1.5% (134 deaths) involved COVID-19 in England.

In Wales, the number of deaths decreased from 578 in Week 37 to 555 in Week 38, which was 20 fewer deaths than the five-year average (575 deaths). Of these, 0.9% (five deaths) involved COVID-19.

In Week 38, in England and Wales, 13.3% of all deaths mentioned “Influenza and Pneumonia”, COVID-19 or both, compared with 12.5% in Week 37. “Influenza and Pneumonia” has been included for comparison, as a well-understood cause of death involving respiratory infection that is likely to have somewhat similar risk factors to COVID-19.

Figure 2: Deaths not involving COVID-19 remained above the five-year average

Number of deaths registered by week, England and Wales, 28 December 2019 to 18 September 2020

Between Weeks 1 and 12, 138,916 deaths were registered, which was 4,822 fewer than the five-year average for these weeks. However, between Weeks 13 and 38, 305,253 deaths were registered, which was 58,485 more than the five-year average.

Looking at the year-to-date (using the most up-to-date data we have available), the number of deaths up to 18 September 2020 was 444,139, which is 53,633 more than the five-year average. Of the deaths registered by 18 September, 52,631 mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, 11.9% of all deaths in England and Wales.

Looking at the year-to-date for England and Wales separately, the number of deaths for England was 416,986, which is 52,080 (14.3%) more than the five-year average. Of these, 49,982 (12.0%) mentioned COVID-19. In Wales, the number of deaths up to 18 September 2020 was 26,497, which is 2,036 (8.3%) more than the five-year average; of these, 2,575 deaths (9.7%) mentioned COVID-19.

In Week 38, the number of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) in England and Wales increased or remained similar across the majority of age groups, compared with Week 37, with the biggest increase seen in those aged 90 years and over (11 deaths). The number of deaths involving COVID-19 remained higher in the older age groups, with those aged 80 years and over accounting for the highest number of deaths involving COVID-19 (56.8%).

Looking at the year-to-date, for most age groups there have been more deaths involving COVID-19 in males than in females (Figure 3). Across Weeks 1 to 38 of 2020, 55.0% of all deaths involving COVID-19 were in males. However, there were more deaths in females aged 85 years and over (12,027) than males aged 85 years and over (10,181). This could be because the over-85-years female population (939,000) is larger than the over-85-years male population (564,000) in England and Wales.

Figure 4: The number of deaths in Week 38 decreased in Wales and the majority of the English regions

Number of deaths in Wales and regions in England, registered between 28 December 2019 and 18 September 2020

In Week 38 (week ending 18 September 2020), there were five deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) registered in Wales. Out of the English regions, the North West had the largest number of deaths involving COVID-19 (39 deaths) and the highest proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 (3.0%). More detailed geographic analysis between 1 March and 31 July 2020 can be found in our Deaths involving COVID-19 by local area and socioeconomic deprivation release.

The number of deaths registered in Week 38 was higher than the five-year average in all English regions except for the North East and London, which were below the five-year average (1.9% and 4.3% respectively). In Wales, the number of deaths registered in Week 38 was 3.5% (20 deaths) fewer than the five-year average (Table 1).

The year-to-date analysis shows that, of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) up to Week 38 (week ending 18 September 2020), 63.4% (33,386 deaths) occurred in hospital, with the remainder occurring in care homes (15,562 deaths), private homes (2,502 deaths), hospices (753 deaths), other communal establishments (224 deaths) and elsewhere (204 deaths).

Between Weeks 37 and 38, the number of deaths involving COVID-19 increased in hospitals (34 deaths higher), care homes (4 deaths higher), hospices (2 deaths) and private homes (1 death), while deaths in other settings decreased (1 death fewer). Deaths involving COVID-19 in hospitals as a proportion of all deaths in hospitals increased from 1.6% in Week 37 to 2.5% in Week 38. Deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes as a proportion of all deaths in care homes increased from 1.3% in Week 37 to 1.6% in Week 38. Detailed analysis on deaths of care home residents is available in 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.

As well as Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) provides numbers of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes in England that are based on the date the death was notified to the CQC. From 10 April (the first day when data were collected using the CQC’s new method of identifying deaths involving COVID-19) to 25 September 2020, there were 14,297 deaths of residents in care homes involving COVID-19. Of these deaths, 33 were notified in the week up to 18 September. More information on the data provided by the CQC can be found in our joint transparency statement.

In Wales, the Welsh Government publishes the number of deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19 notified to the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). Between 1 March and 18 September 2020, there were 745 deaths of residents in care homes involving COVID-19.

More information on how these numbers have compared throughout the pandemic can be found in our previous Comparison of weekly death occurrences in England and Wales release.

Figure 5: Deaths in private homes remained above the five-year average in Week 38

Number of excess deaths by place of occurrence, England and Wales, registered between 7 March 2020 and 18 September 2020

In Week 38, deaths in hospitals, care homes and other locations were below the five-year average by 365, 68 and 18 deaths respectively, while the number of deaths in private homes was higher than the five-year average by 711 deaths (Figure 5).

Looking in more detail at deaths in private homes in Week 38, males and females accounted for similar numbers of excess deaths (352 and 357 deaths respectively). Overall, 81.7% of the excess deaths in private homes were those aged 70 years and over (579 excess deaths). More detailed analysis of excess deaths in England is produced by Public Health England (PHE) on a weekly basis.

Figure 6 is based on date of death for deaths registered up to 26 September 2020, rather than date of registration. This means as more deaths are registered, deaths per day are likely to increase, especially for later dates. Looking at the number of deaths that occurred in Week 38, 72.7% of deaths occurred in hospitals, and care homes accounted for 23.4% of all deaths involving COVID-19; this may change as more deaths are registered.

A death of a man aged 80 to 84 years was registered in the week ending 4 September 2020 (Week 36), which occurred in the week ending 31 January 2020 (Week 5). This is the earliest known death involving COVID-19 in the UK.

Across the UK, there were 10,784 deaths (all causes) registered in Week 38 (week ending 18 September 2020), which was 257 deaths higher than the UK five-year average but 361 deaths fewer than Week 37. Of these deaths, 158 involved the coronavirus (COVID-19), 48 deaths higher than in Week 37 (a 43.6% increase).

In Week 38, England had the highest number of deaths involving COVID-19 with 134 deaths, followed by Scotland with 11 deaths, Northern Ireland with 8 deaths and Wales with 5 deaths.

We previously published this section as a separate article on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website, which provided a more thorough description of the differences between different data sources. This section will look at the number of deaths by date of death produced by the ONS compared with death notifications reported by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). For Wales, we can also compare the reconciled DHSC data by date of death released by Public Health Wales (PHW).

On 12 August 2020, Public Health England (PHE) revised their data series to include two measures: deaths of positively tested individuals where the death occurred within 28 days and deaths within 60 days of a positive test. More information on these changes can be found in their technical summary.

In England, including deaths that occurred up to 18 September 2020 but were registered up to 26 September 2020, of those we have processed so far, the number involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) was 50,066. The comparative number of death notifications reported by the DHSC on GOV.UK where the deaths occurred within 28 days of testing was 37,076 and the number of deaths by date of death showed 37,128; the comparative number of death notifications where the deaths occurred within 60 days of testing was 41,074 and the number of deaths by date of death showed 41,172.

In Wales, including deaths that occurred up to 18 September 2020 but were registered up to 26 September 2020, of those we have processed so far, the number involving COVID-19 was 2,577; the comparative number of death notifications reported by the DHSC on GOV.UK where the death occurred within 28 days of testing was 1,603 and PHW numbers, which come from the same source as the DHSC figures but are continuously updated, showed 1,604 deaths.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths

Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths are those deaths registered in England and Wales in the stated week where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. A doctor can certify the involvement of COVID-19 based on symptoms and clinical findings – a positive test result is not required. Definitions of COVID-19 for deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland are similar to England and Wales.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in the Mortality statistics in England and Wales QMI.

To meet user needs, we publish very timely but provisional counts of death registrations in England and Wales in our Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional dataset. These are presented by sex, age group and regions (within England) as well as for Wales as a whole. To allow time for registration and processing, these figures are published 11 days after the week ends. Because of the rapidly changing situation, in this bulletin we have also given provisional updated totals based on the latest available death registrations, up to 26 September 2020.

Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our regular weekly deaths release now provides a separate breakdown of the number of deaths involving COVID-19: that is, where COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions. If a death certificate mentions COVID-19, it will not always be the main cause of death but may be a contributory factor. This bulletin summarises the latest weekly information and will be updated each week during the pandemic.

These figures are different from the daily surveillance figures on COVID-19 deaths published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on the GOV.UK website, for the UK as a whole and its constituent countries. Figures in this report are derived from the formal process of death registration and may include cases where the doctor completing the death certificate diagnosed possible cases of COVID-19, for example, where this was based on relevant symptoms but no test for the virus was conducted.

From 29 April 2020, the DHSC started to publish as their daily announced figures on deaths from COVID-19 for the UK a new series that uses improved data for England produced by Public Health England (PHE). These figures provide a count of all deaths where a positive test for COVID-19 has been confirmed, wherever that death has taken place, a change from previously reporting only confirmed COVID-19 deaths in hospitals. Figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had already begun to include deaths outside hospitals, so this change ensured that the UK-wide series had a shared and common definitional coverage. A statement was published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that provides more detail of the changes.

On 12 August 2020, the PHE data series was revised to include two measures: deaths of positively tested individuals where the death occurred within 28 days and deaths within 60 days of a positive test. More information on these changes can be found in their technical summary (PDF, 854KB).

In contrast to the GOV.UK figures, we include only deaths registered in England and Wales, which is the legal remit of the ONS. Tables 2 and 3 provide an overview of the differences in definitions between sources.

We will publish accompanying articles periodically, giving enhanced information such as age-standardised and age-specific mortality rates for recent time periods and breakdowns of deaths involving COVID-19 by associated pre-existing health conditions.

There is usually a delay of at least five days between occurrence and registration. More information on this issue can be found in our impact of registration delays release.

Our User guide to mortality statistics provides further information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to mortality and includes a glossary of terms.

Figures are based on the date the death was registered, not when it occurred. There is usually a delay of at least five days between occurrence and registration. More information on this issue can be found in our impact of registration delays release.