You asked
FOI/2021/2369
Please can you supply:
- the number of smoking related deaths for 2020 in UK.
- the number of those deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for the production of Mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. 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.
However, smoking related deaths for England and Wales will be published on our website in July 2021, with the publication of the Deaths Registered Series.
Adult smoking habits in the UK 2020 is scheduled for release in September 2021.
Smoking attributable deaths within 28 days of a COVID-19 test
ONS and PHE COVID-19 deaths data are produced in different ways and have different purposes:
- the daily COVID deaths counts reported on the government's COVID-19 dashboard (produced by PHE) shows deaths within 28 days of a first positive laboratory-confirmed test.
- ONS weekly death registrations data for England and Wales, relate to the week that ended 11 days prior and are based on the cause of death reported on the death certificate, thereby not restricted to only deaths that showed a positive test.
Therefore, we consider this information not held.
More information can be found in a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used.