Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional: week ending 3 April 2020

• Comparison of weekly death occurrences in England and Wales: up to week ending 3 April 2020

• The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 3 April 2020 (Week 14) was 16,387; this represents an increase of 5,246 deaths registered compared with the previous week (Week 13) and 6,082 more than the five-year average.

• Of the deaths registered in Week 14, 3,475 mentioned “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, which was 21.2% of all deaths; this compares with 539 (4.8% of all deaths) in Week 13.

• In London, nearly half (46.6%) of deaths registered in Week 14 involved COVID-19; the West Midlands also had a high proportion of COVID-19 deaths, accounting for 22.1% of deaths registered in this region.

• Of deaths involving COVID-19 registered up to Week 14, 90.2% (3,716 deaths) occurred in hospital, with the remainder occurring in hospices, care homes and private homes.

• Please note, where Easter falls in previous years will have an impact on the five-year average used for comparison.

Statistician’s comment

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS said:

“The latest comparable data for deaths involving COVID-19 with a date of death up to 3 April, show there were 6,235 deaths in England and Wales. When looking at data for England, this is 15% higher than the NHS numbers as they include all mentions of COVID-19 on the death certificate, including suspected COVID-19, as well as deaths in the community.

“The 16,387 deaths that were registered in England and Wales during the week ending 3 April is the highest weekly total since we started compiling weekly deaths data in 2005.”

The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in Week 14 (week ending 3 April 2020) increased from 11,141 in Week 13 (week ending 27 March 2020) to 16,387. This is 6,082 more deaths than the five-year average of 10,305.

The number of death registrations involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) increased from 539 in Week 13 to 3,475 in Week 14. The number of deaths mentioning “Influenza and Pneumonia” on the death certificate increased from 1,863 in Week 13 to 2,367 in Week 14. Out of the deaths mentioning “Influenza and Pneumonia” in Week 14, 1,466 also mentioned COVID-19.

In Week 14, 35.7% of all deaths mentioned “Influenza and Pneumonia”, COVID-19, or both. In comparison, for the five-year average, 20.0% of deaths mentioned “Influenza and Pneumonia”. “Influenza and Pneumonia” has been included for comparison, as a well-understood cause of death involving respiratory infection that is likely to have somewhat similar risk factors to COVID-19.

Figure 2: Deaths involving COVID-19 were registered in all age groups apart from those aged under 15 years

Deaths by age group, England and Wales, week ending 3 April 2020

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In Week 14 (week ending 3 April 2020), there were no deaths registered involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the two youngest age groups (that is, those aged 1 year or under and those aged 1 to 14 years). The highest number (1,231) and proportion (24.6% of deaths in this age group) of COVID-19 deaths were among those aged 75 to 84 years.

Figure 3: The highest number of deaths involving COVID-19 was recorded in London, while the lowest numbers were in North East England, and Wales

Deaths by regions in England and Wales, week ending 3 April 2020

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In Week 14 (week ending 3 April 2020), there were 134 deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) registered in each of the North East of England, and Wales. The region with the largest number and proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 was London with 1,170 deaths; 46.6% of all London deaths and 33.8% of all COVID-19 deaths.

Looking at the year-to-date (using the most up-to-date data we have available to get the most accurate estimates), the number of deaths is currently higher than the five-year average. The current number of deaths is 166,436, which is 2,240 more than the five-year average. Of the deaths registered by 3 April 2020, 4,122 mentioned the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the death certificate; this is 2.5% of all deaths.

In each age group there have been more deaths involving COVID-19 in males than in females. The largest difference was in age group 75 to 84 years where there were 931 deaths involving COVID-19 in males and 515 in females.

The year-to-date analysis shows that, of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) up to Week 14, 90.2% (3,716 deaths) occurred in hospital, with the remainder occurring in hospices (33 deaths), care homes (217 deaths) and private homes (136 deaths).

We will be releasing Analysis of deaths involving COVID-19 on Thursday 16 April 2020. This will take a more in-depth look at deaths related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) that have occurred in March. Analysis will look at the number of deaths with COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death, comparisons with other causes and breakdowns by age, sex and place of death.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths

Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths are those deaths registered in England and Wales in the stated week where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as “deaths involving COVID-19”. A doctor can certify the involvement of COVID-19 based on symptoms and clinical findings – a positive test result is not required.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in the Mortality statistics in England and Wales QMI.

To meet user needs, we publish very timely but provisional counts of death registrations in England and Wales in our Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional dataset. These are presented by sex, age group and regions (within England) as well as for Wales as a whole. To allow time for registration and processing, these figures are published 11 days after the week ends. Because of the rapidly changing situation, in this bulletin we have also given provisional updated totals based on the latest available death registrations, up to 11 April 2020.

Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our regular weekly deaths release now provides a separate breakdown of the numbers of deaths involving COVID-19: that is, where COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions. If a death certificate mentions COVID-19 it will not always be the main cause of death, but may be a contributory factor. This new bulletin summarises the latest weekly information and will be updated each week during the pandemic.

These figures are different from the daily surveillance figures on COVID-19 deaths published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on the GOV.UK website, for the UK as a whole and constituent countries. Figures in this report are derived from the formal process of death registration and may include cases where the doctor completing the death certificate diagnosed possible cases of COVID-19, for example, where this was based on relevant symptoms but no test for the virus was conducted. Our figures also include any deaths that occur outside hospital.

In contrast to the GOV.UK figures, we include only deaths registered in England and Wales, which is the legal remit of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Table 1 provides an overview of the differences in definitions between sources.

We will publish accompanying articles periodically, giving enhanced information such as age-standardised and age-specific mortality rates for recent time periods and breakdowns of deaths involving COVID-19 by associated pre-existing health conditions. On 16 April we will be publishing more in-depth analysis for deaths involving COVID-19.

There is usually a delay of at least five days between occurrence and registration. More information on this issue can be found in our impact of registration delays release.

Our User guide to mortality statistics provides further information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to mortality and includes a glossary of terms.

Figures are based on the date the death was registered, not when it occurred. There is usually a delay of at least five days between occurrence and registration. More information on this issue can be found in our impact of registration delays release.