Number of COVID-19 deaths per day where COVID-19 was the main cause of death

You asked

Please could you provide the number of deaths per day from March to August 2020 where Covid-19 is the main cause of death.

Please also provide main cause of death of Covid-19 deaths where deaths have been reported as Covid-19 under the 28 day rule.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

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.

Our mortality data is derived from information on the death certificate. We do not have access to COVID-19 test results and are therefore unable to provide data relating to testing and death. Death certificates are coded using the WHO ICD10 Classification of Diseases.

Daily registrations and occurrences for all deaths where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate are available on Table 5 and 6 respectively of the following publication: Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional. These figures go up to mid-October 2020.

In order to fulfil your request for deaths where COVID-19 was the main cause of death, we would need to create information. 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.

We are continuing to monitor deaths involving COVID-19 using both our weekly and monthly reports and with any new increase in the numbers of deaths by COVID-19 we will look to how we can continue to publish insights and analysis to inform users.