Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it the policy of the Government that no death certificate issued in respect of a care home resident in England should include reference to covid-19 unless a test has established that (a) the patient died with covid-19 and (b) covid-19 was the primary cause of death; and if he will make a statement.

In response to the provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020 in relation to death certification, the General Register Office/Home Office and the Office for National Statistics published revised guidance to medical practitioners completing medical certificates cause of death (MCCD) for a period of emergency. Medical practitioners are expected to state the cause of death to the best of their knowledge and belief. This guidance confirms that COVID-19 is an acceptable direct or underlying cause of death for the purposes of completing the MCCD.