You asked
I would like deaths where Covid-19 was put on the death certificate, but there was another cause of death. That Covid-19 was put on the death certificate due to the fact they had tested positive.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
Our data are different from the figures on COVID-19 deaths produced by Public Health England and 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. Please contact coronavirus-tracker@phe.gov.uk for queries about their data.
In our COVID-19 analysis, 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.
The download file underneath Figure 2 of the following publication, Provisional weekly deaths, provides the number of deaths 'due to' and 'involving' COVID-19 by week in 2020 and so far in 2021.
The following publication, Deaths involving COVID-19 bulletin, and dataset, Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales, provide analysis on deaths involving COVID-19 with other pre-existing conditions as well as the number of deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the sole condition on the death certificate between March and June 2020. We are currently reassessing this publication and will be releasing an update soon, analysing data from July onwards. When a publication date is finalised it will be added to the ONS Release Calendar.