You asked

Under the freedom of information act would you please provide the following information as requested.

  • How many total deaths were registered in the year 2020.
  • How many deaths were registered with Covid-19 as cause and without any underlying heath issues.
  • How many deaths were registered with Covid-19 in total.
  • How many deaths were registered with the Flu as cause without any underlying health issues.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

Total number of deaths in 2020 in England and Wales

The total number of deaths in 2020 will be finalised in July 2021 with the publication of our Deaths Registered Series. This is to allow time for late registrations such as deaths referred to Coroner's Inquest to be included.

Whilst the data has not yet been finalised for 2020, we have published a blog with provisional year-end figures from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 for England and Wales, which is accessible via the following link: https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2021/01/12/counting-deaths-involving-coronavirus-a-year-in-review/

COVID-19 deaths with no underlying conditions in England and Wales

Please see the following previously published FOI response, which provides the answer to your query regarding deaths from COVID-19 with no underlying health conditions: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/covid19deathswithnounderlyingconditionsfrommarch2020tojanuary2021

COVID-19 deaths registered in total

Weekly COVID-19 deaths are published in Figures 2 of our Deaths Registered Weekly publication. 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, whether as an underlying cause or not.

Influenza deaths in 2020 with no underlying conditions:

We currently only hold the number of deaths involving and due to both influenza and pneumonia combined for 2020 and 2021. Weekly deaths involving influenza and pneumonia deaths are also published in Figure 2 of our Deaths Registered Weekly publication. 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.

We would need to create a bespoke analysis in order to provide you with deaths involving influenza for 2020 with no underlying health conditions. 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. The number of deaths from influenza separately from pneumonia will be published once mortality data for 2020 has been finalised in the summer of 2021.