You asked
Please provide statistics / numbers / all related information regarding deaths which occured during the coronavirus pandemic, which were not COVID-19-related / caused but were recorded as a COVID-19 related death.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. COVID-19 is only recorded on a death certificate if it contributed to the death.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
We report deaths 'due to' COVID-19 (where it was recorded as the underlying cause of death) and deaths 'involving' COVID-19 (where it was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, either as underlying cause or as a contributory factor).
These data are available in the provisional weekly deaths publication. A breakdown of deaths due to and involving COVID-19 are available in the excel download file underneath Figure 2. This publication also reports the total number of deaths from all causes and the five-year average number of deaths, each week.
We have also published Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This publication provides numbers of deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the sole condition on the death certificate for March to June 2020. We are currently reassessing this publication and will be releasing an update soon, analysing data from July onwards.
Analysis of deaths registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 10 July 2020, that did not involve coronavirus (COVID-19), is available here: Non-COVID-19 deaths.
Final publication dates will be announced via the ONS Release Calendar.