Change in Covid mortality recordings

The request was partially successful.

Dear Office for National Statistics,

The way Covid-19 deaths are recorded recently changed: it was any death within 28 days of a positive test; now it is any death within 60 days. Naturally this leads to incomparable death statistics and gives the unaware a false picture. Could you provide any official reasoning as to why the change has taken place, including documents wherein the change was authorised?

Yours faithfully,

James Austin

system@share.ons.gov.uk,

Workflow Notification

show quoted sections

For the latest data on the economy and society, consult our
website at [3]http://www.ons.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Legal Disclaimer:  Any views expressed by the sender of this message are
not necessarily those of the Office for National Statistics
***********************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ONS request email]
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. http://www.ons.gov.uk/

FOI Team, Office for National Statistics

Our Reference: FOI/2021/1477

 

Dear James,

 

Thank you for your email requesting data pertaining to change in the
classification of COVID-19 deaths from deaths occurring within 28 days of
a positive test to 60.

 

I am writing to confirm that the Office for National Statistics has now
completed its search for the information which you requested and the
response can be found here:

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...

 

You have the right to have this response to your Freedom of Information
request reviewed internally by an internal review process and, if you
remain unhappy with the decision, by the Information Commissioner. If you
would like to have the decision reviewed please email the Freedom of
Information Team at ‘[ONS request email]’ or write to The FoI Team, Room
1100, Office for National Statistics, Segensworth Road, Titchfield PO15
5RR, and mark your correspondence "Internal Review".

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Freedom of
Information Team ('[ONS request email]').

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

The Freedom of Information Team

Office for National Statistics

 

For information on Coronavirus, please visit [2]ONS.gov.uk/coronavirus

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus