Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in England died in the first three months of 2021 due to (1) flu and (2) COVID-19.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Rt Hon. the Lord Kilclooney

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

19 April 2021

Dear Lord Kilclooney,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people in England died in the first three months of 2021 due to (1) Flu and (2) COVID-19 (HL14771).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration.

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths where the underlying cause was Influenza and Pneumonia are defined by the ICD-10 codes J09 to J18, deaths. Where the underlying cause of deaths was COVID-19, these are defined by the ICD codes U07.1, U07.2 and U10.9.

Table 1 below provides the number of deaths, in England, where the underlying cause of death was (1) Influenza and Pneumonia or (2) COVID-19 for the first two months of 2021. Data for March 2021 has not yet been compiled but will be released within our Monthly Mortality Analysis[1] dataset, scheduled for release on 22 April.

The number of deaths for 2021 are provisional.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of deaths where the underlying cause of death was Influenza and pneumonia or COVID-19, in England, 2021[2][3][4][5][6]

Source: ONS

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales

[2]Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring, in each calendar year.

[3]Deaths for England exclude non-residents.

[4] Figures for England are based on geographical boundaries as of February 2021.

[5] The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18), COVID-19 (U07.1, U07.2 and U10.9).

[6] Figures for 2021 are provisional.