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<p>The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.</p><p>Letter from the National
Statistician</p><p>Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician</p><p>9 November
2021</p><p>As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority,
I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking about plans to record the causation
of excess deaths in winter 2021-22; and whether COVID-19, influenza and community
or hospital acquired pneumonia will be separately identified in those statistics (69656).</p><p>The
Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports on ‘Excess Winter Mortality for England
and Wales’ [1] annually. Excess winter mortality is estimated by comparing the winter
months of December to March with the average of the four-month periods before and
after. The next report on excess winter mortality is due for release on 26 November
2021, and will provide final estimates for the 2019 to 2020 winter period and provisional
estimates for the 2020 to 2021 winter period. Corresponding figures for winter 2021/22
will be published in autumn 2022.</p><p>The data published on excess winter mortality
will include estimates both including and excluding COVID-19. The provisional estimates
for winter 2020/21 will include a specific estimate for deaths with an underlying
cause of COVID-19 and new breakdowns by place of death. Cause of death groupings reported
in addition to COVID-19 will be respiratory diseases, Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,
circulatory diseases, and injury and poisoning.</p><p>Separately, the regular report
on ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales’ [2] allows excess deaths each week
to be calculated relative to the average for the corresponding week in the years 2015-19.
Weekly figures are provided for deaths by all causes aggregated, and for respiratory
diseases, influenza and pneumonia, and COVID-19. The information held by the ONS is
based on the particulars recorded in the process of death registration, and does not
specify the place where an infectious disease was acquired.</p><p>Yours sincerely,</p><p>Professor
Sir Ian Diamond</p><p>1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/previousReleases</p><p>2.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest</p><p>
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