The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.<\/p>
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Dear Lord Empey,<\/p>
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many COVID-19 related deaths in the UK resulted from a secondary bacterial infection leading to sepsis (HL3127)<\/strong>.<\/p> The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing weekly numbers of deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent figures published are for deaths registered in 2018[1], however, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations which are currently published for deaths registered up to 10 April 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.<\/p> Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19 are identified by the ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2 and deaths involving sepsis are identified by the ICD-10 codes A40 and A41. Sepsis is likely to be caused by a bacterial infection, therefore we have assumed that all deaths involving sepsis would involve a bacterial infection and have therefore not searched for this separately.<\/p> Table 1 below shows the number of deaths occurring in March 2020 and registered by 10 April 2020 where the death involved both COVID-19 and sepsis, where COVID-19 caused the sepsis. The data covers deaths registered in Great Britain, as data for Northern Ireland is not yet fully coded.<\/p> Yours sincerely,<\/p> Professor Sir Ian Diamond<\/strong><\/p> Table 1: <\/strong>Number of deaths occurring in March 2020 involving COVID-19 and sepsis, where COVID-19 caused the sepsis, Great Britain[3][4]<\/p> <\/p> Geography<\/strong><\/p><\/td> Number of deaths<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> Great Britain<\/p><\/td> 26<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/p> Source: Office for National Statistics, <\/em>National Records Scotland<\/em><\/p>