Deaths caused by influenza and COVID-19

Release date:
23 December 2020

You asked

Please can you provide the following information available for me

  1. In the UK what is the number of total Flu deaths during the 2019 - 2020 Flu Season (to date 01/12/20)

  2. The total number of deaths as a direct results from COVID-19 in the Yorkshire area (to date 01/12/20)

  3. The actual deaths recorded as Flu deaths in all hospitals in the UK in the Flu Season 2020 to date

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.

Information on deaths due to or involving influenza and pneumonia for 2020 are recorded weekly as part of our  Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional.

This also shows the number of COVID-19 deaths registered daily and daily occurrences. These tables are broken down to show daily numbers for Yorkshire and the Humber, dating back to March 2020.

We use the term "due to Influenza and Pneumonia" when referring only to deaths where that illness was recorded as the underlying cause of death. We use the term "involving Influenza and Pneumonia" when referring to deaths that had that illness mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.

Deaths involving and due to COVID-19 and Influenza and Pneumonia, England and Wales, deaths registered in 2020
Week no.Deaths involving Influenza and PneumoniaDeaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia
Week 1 2,596 821
Week 2 2,994 931
Week 3 2,687 809
Week 4 2,426 716
Week 5 2,268 648
Week 6 2,045 536
Week 7 1,979 528
Week 8 1,996 563
Week 9 1,948 562
Week 10 1,909 510
Week 11 1,962 532
Week 12 1,941 580
Week 13 2,190 571
Week 14 3,898 702
Week 15 4,418 611
Week 16 5,215 541
Week 17 4,727 480
Week 18 3,619 400
Week 19 2,374 278
Week 20 2,688 314
Week 21 2,063 299
Week 22 1,679 251
Week 23 1,721 312
Week 24 1,520 250
Week 25 1,392 278
Week 26 1,248 233
Week 27 1,295 269
Week 28 1,175 227
Week 29 1,104 207
Week 30 1,116 244
Week 31 1,088 219
Week 32 1,094 237
Week 33 1,151 255
Week 34 1,310 292
Week 35 1,163 231
Week 36 969 215
Week 37 1,257 283
Week 38 1,250 291
Week 39 1,305 266
Week 40 1,341 287
Week 41 1,425 311
Week 42 1,619 337
Week 43 1,719 302
Week 44 1,922 289
Week 45 2,267 307
Week 46 2,537 291
Week 47 2,605 280
Week 48 2,693 285
Week 49 2,619 267

Source: Office for National Statistics – Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales

Notes

  1. For Influenza and Pneumonia as a separate ICD10 code, I can only provide up to August 2020.

Download this table Deaths involving and due to COVID-19 and Influenza and Pneumonia, England and Wales, deaths registered in 2020

.xls .csv

Table 1: Number of death occurrences where Influenza or Pneumonia were the underlying cause of death by sex, January to August 2020, England and Wales 1,2,3,4,5,6
England and Wales¹England² ³Wales² ³
InfluenzaPneumoniaInfluenzaPneumoniaInfluenzaPneumonia
Persons39413,61937012,61223993
Males1796,3981735,9605429
Females2157,2211976,65218564

Notes

  1. Figures include deaths of non-residents.​
  2. Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
  3. Figures are based on boundaries as of May 2020. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
  4. Based on date a death occurred, registered up to 5 September 2020. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
  5. Figures for 2020 are based on provisional mortality data. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
  6. The International Classification of Diseases, tenth edition (ICD-10) definitions for underlying cause of death are as follows: influenza (J09-J11) or pneumonia (J12-J18).

Download this table Table 1: Number of death occurrences where Influenza or Pneumonia were the underlying cause of death by sex, January to August 2020, England and Wales 1,2,3,4,5,6

.xls .csv

Deaths involving Influenza and pneumonia for 2019 are available using our NOMIS webservice.

Mortality statistics - underlying cause, sex and age
Cause of death2019
A00-R99,U00-Y89 All causes, all ages529,553
J09-J11 Influenza1,213
J12-J18 Pneumonia25,129

Source: ONS Crown Copyright Reserved

Notes

  1. Area type: countries
  2. Area name: England and Wales
  3. Gender: total
  4. Age: total (all ages)
  5. Measure: Deaths

Download this table Mortality statistics - underlying cause, sex and age

.xls .csv

Using our 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

9,289 deaths or 74.4% of Influenza and pneumonia deaths for 2020 (up to 31st August) occurred in hospital, with 9,060 deaths in England and 756 deaths in Wales.  

Unfortunately, we would be unable to provide you with the total number of deaths as a direct result from COVID-19 in the Yorkshire area (To date 01/12/20 )

In order to fulfil this request, we would need use statistical skill in order to create a bespoke analysis or table. 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.

However, we can provide all cause and COVID-19 deaths by local authority and place of occurrence. This data is published every Tuesday as part of our Death registrations and occurrences by local authority and health board.

Making an FOI request

Everything you need to know about Freedom of Information and how to go about making a request.