You asked
Please provide the number of people who have died from Covid-19. That's not to say the number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive covid test - as reported on the news - but the number of people who have actually died from the virus.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
The doctor or coroner certifying a death can record more than one health condition or event on the form. The medical certificate of cause of death has two parts, Part 1 contains the sequence of health conditions or events leading directly to death, while Part 2 can contain other health conditions that contributed to the death but were not part of the direct sequence. For statistical purposes one of the health conditions on the certificate is chosen as the 'underlying cause of death'. The underlying cause of death is defined as the health condition or event that started the train of events leading to death and is worked out according to rules from the World Health Organisation (WHO). COVID-19 is the underlying cause of death in around 90% of deaths where it was mentioned on the death certificate.
The downloadable datafile beneath Figure 2 of the following publication, Deaths registered weekly, provides deaths due to and involving COVID-19 weekly in 2020. We use the term "due to COVID-19" when referring only to deaths where that illness was recorded as the underlying cause of death. We use the term "involving COVID-19" when referring to deaths that had that illness mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, either as underlying cause or contributory factor. Please see the following table taken from this publication, which provides these figures.
Please see the following totals, showing COVID-19 deaths that were registered from 1 January 2020 up to week ending 8 January 2021:
Deaths involving COVID-19 (underlying or secondary cause) - 86,887
Deaths due to COVID-19 (underlying cause) - 78,811
If you would like to discuss these statistics further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.