FOI Reference: FOI/2022/3931
You asked
My request for information is as follows:
1) How many of the 48,168 death occurrences due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) between January and August 2020 were also confirmed as cases of active SARS-CoV2 virus present in their body?
2). How was testing for active SARS-CoV2 virus conducted? (Name of test method, type of sample)
and
3) When was testing for active SARS-CoV2 virus conducted?
(Before or after death, how many days)
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from death certificates at death registration.
How causes of death are recorded on a death certificate
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) the coded mortality data available up to end of December 2021 is coded to version 2014 of the ICD10 framework. From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The death certificate (Annex A (PDF, 224KB)) used in England and Wales is compatible with that recommended by WHO. It is set out in two parts. Part I gives the condition or sequence of conditions leading directly to death, while Part II gives details of any associated conditions that contributed to the death but are not part of the causal sequence.
Deaths due to COVID-19 in England and Wales
Deaths from COVID-19 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. Deaths with a positive test are coded using the ICD10 code U071 and those with suspected COVID-19 but no test has been conducted are coded with ICD10 U072. Deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying condition that led to the death are recorded in Part I of the death certificate.
At the time of release of Deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) compared with deaths from influenza and pneumonia, England and Wales: deaths occurring between 1 January and 31 August 2020, the data published in this release was not differentiated between U071 and U072.
However, we did publish details of deaths due to COVID-19 in our August 2020 edition - monthly mortality analysis. A segment of section 3 stated 'Our definition of COVID-19 includes some cases where the certifying doctor suspected the death involved COVID-19 but was not certain, for example, because no test was done. Of the 48,100 deaths with an underlying cause of COVID-19 in England and Wales, 3,889 (8.1%) were classified as "suspected" COVID-19.' The slight difference in the number of deaths would have been a result of late registrations.
ONS now produce total breakdowns for deaths due to COVID-19, split by U071 and U072 in table 12 of our monthly mortality analysis, with data available up to January 2022.
If you require calculations of deaths due to COVID-19 confirmed by a positive test (U071) between January and August 2020, we can produce this for you as a bespoke request. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate).
Such enquiries would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and should be made to: Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.
COVID-19 testing
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, formerly Public Health England) are responsible for and hold data on the NHS Test and Trace. You can find more information at https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/metrics or by contacting UKKHSA by email at informationrights@ukhsa.gov.uk.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistic (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.
Details of the test data i.e. brand, timing of test is not provided on the death certificate. ONS only receive and hold underlying and contributing factors of the death that are reported via the death certificate. Therefore, this information is not held.