You asked
May I please request from you precisely how many of the current 70,752 deaths in the UK reported "within 28 days of a positive covid test" were JUST deaths as a result of covid with nothing else on the death certificate as a cause of death.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The information you refer to is produced by Public Health England and is published here: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/. These data include both deaths that were due to COVID-19 and deaths involving COVID-19. Please contact coronavirus-tracker@phe.gov.uk for queries about the data.
Our data are different from the figures on COVID-19 deaths published on the government's COVID-19 dashboard which shows 'deaths within 28 days of a positive test'. You can read a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used. Therefore, we are unable to provide the exact information you have requested.
However, our data showing the number of deaths due to COVID-19 are available in the following publication: Provisional weekly deaths. Data are available for each week in 2020 in the excel chart data download file underneath Figure 2.
We use the term "due to COVID-19" when referring only to deaths where that illness was recorded as the underlying cause of death. We use the term "involving COVID-19" when referring to deaths that had that illness mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, either as underlying cause or contributory factor.
Further analysis of deaths due to and involving COVID-19 are available in our Monthly mortality analysis publication, which may also be of interest.