Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 41019, what assessment he has made of the potential under-reporting of deaths in the community from covid-19 as the result of GPs not being present to complete medical certificates of cause of death since 1 March 2020; if he will issue guidance that in (a) confirmed and (b) suspected cases in the absence of a positive test for covid-19, explicit reference to covid-19 should be made when medical practitioners complete medical certificates of 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.