You asked
Please can you let me know how many people have died from Covid with no underlying health conditions, both in the UK as a whole, and only in England.
Also many died who were near the end of their life/ receiving palliative care- both in the UK, and England only.
What is the figure for the number of autopsies carried out on people who have died from suspected Coronavirus (both in UK and just in England please.)
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for mortality data 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.
COVID-19 deaths of those who were receiving palliative care
Our mortality data is derived from the information provided on death certificates. Unfortunately, we do not hold information regarding how many people who have died from COVID-19 were receiving palliative care, as this information is not recorded on the death certificate. You may wish to contact the NHS End of Life Care Programme to find out if they hold any relevant statistics. They can be contacted via email at england.palliativeandendoflife@nhs.net.
COVID-19 deaths with no underlying health conditions in England and Wales
Please see the following publication: Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales. This publication provides the number of deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the sole condition on the death certificate from March to June 2020. Figures are available for England and Wales separately.
We are currently reassessing this publication and will be releasing an update soon, analysing data from July onwards.
As such, data for COVID-19 deaths with no underlying conditions in England between July and December 2020 is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
The final release date will be announced on our Release Calendar.
Autopsies on those who have died from COVID-19
In order to provide the number of people who died from COVID-19 who underwent a post-mortem examination, we would need to create bespoke analysis. 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.
Once 2020 death registrations are finalised in July 2021, we will be offering bespoke services for 2020 mortality data. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales will be available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate).