Workflow Notification

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

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

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

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your email.

Please see the following text, which was acknowledgement of your freedom
of information request.

Thank you for your FOI request.

We can confirm that your request has been received and is being dealt
with. We will aim to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than 20 working days from when we received your request. However,
due to the current COVID-19 emergency, we are experiencing some delays in
processing requests and it may not be possible to respond within the 20
working day statutory deadline. Should this be the case with your request,
we will keep you informed.

Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us
at [1][ONS request email]

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

Yours Faithfully

Freedom of Information Team
Office for National Statistics

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Our Reference: FOI/2020/0885

Dear Peter

​Thank you for your request.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey began on 26 April 2020. The
study provides estimates of the number of people within the community
population that has had coronavirus (COVID-19), in the most recent week
and since the study began.

In the [1]data set accompanying our [2]latest bulletin you can find the
following data:

o Our modelled daily positivity rates on tab 1b, for the period 26 April
– 1 October 2020
o Our modelled daily positivity rates by age on tab 1g, for the period
21 August – 1 October 2020.

The [3]August edition dataset accompanying our [4]characteristics
article on 18 August contains our latest information on sex alone. Data is
presented on tab 6 and is for the period 26 April to 26 July. We have not
conducted analysis for age by sex.

Please note these are estimates from the COVID-19 Infection survey. NHS
test and trace (England) and Coronavirus testing (UK) provide daily
statistics on the recorded number of individuals having tested positive
for coronavirus (COVID-19). The test and trace publication provides
statistics weekly, the latest report can be found [5]here.  

The survey follows standard sampling methods by which household are
randomly selected from a commercially available source such as
AddressBase, which is maintained by the Ordnance Survey, or equivalent
databases including in the Devolved Administrations. This will ensure that
the sample remains representative in terms of the country throughout its
duration.

The RT-PCR test for virus is being used as a diagnostic for infection. In
individuals who have been infected and recovered, RT-PCR provides no
information about prior exposure or immunity. The RT-PCR test uses the N
gene, S gene and ORF1ab gene sequences that are specific to SARS-CoV-2 and
would not identify as positive for other known coronaviruses (eg those
causing the common cold, [6]CoV-HKU1, or [7]HCoV-OC43 or coronaviruses
like MERS-CoV).

Normally an infectious virus is only detectable in the upper respiratory
tract the day before, to on average, 5-6 days after symptoms appear,
longer if the infection descends to the lung (on average 13-14 days after
the first appearance of upper respiratory tract infection). Therefore nose
and throat swab tests are unlikely to pick up virus from previous
infections (i.e., from March/April).

We are responsible for the production of Mortality data for England and
Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate
at death registration.

We have been producing [8]Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales in
the response to COVID-19. This publication provides a greater insight into
the leading underlying causes of death groups for deaths occurring in
England and Wales between March and June 2020. Figures for COVID-19 deaths
with no underlying health conditions are available on table 5, this means
where no other underlying condition was listed on the death certificate.
Here are the figures below:

o No pre-existing condition: England and Wales – 4476

We are unable to provide you with the age breakdown you have requested,
aggregating by smaller age groups will produce small counts in some causes
of death. We can provide information for age bands from 0-44, then five
year age bands up to 90+ thereafter, this is available in table 6a.

Provisional monthly death registration data for England and Wales, broken
down by sex, age and country are now available in this monthly
publication: [9]Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales. This
publication contains data from July onwards and includes deaths due to
COVID-19 and leading causes of death.

We are no longer publishing monthly COVID deaths with details around the
death such as pre-existing conditions or no underlying cause due to the
decrease in the number of COVID-19 related deaths. Whilst the number of
infections appear to be rising, the number of COVID-19 deaths from July
onwards are very small and poses a disclosure risk, making it entirely
possible to identify individual records.

We will certainly look to publish this data again should there be a
significant rise in deaths, this is required for us to avoid risk of
disclosure. We are constantly reassessing this to see how we can continue
to publish analysis to inform users.

If you would like to discuss these statistics further, please
contact [10][email address]

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 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.

Freedom of Information Team
Office for National Statistics

References

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1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
3. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
4. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_coro...
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_coro...
8. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
9. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa...
10. mailto:[email address]

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/

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your request for further information.

We have logged this as a new FOI request. You should receive our automated response shortly.

Kind regards,
The Freedom of Information Team
Office for National Statistics

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Dear Peter,

Thank you for your email.

We received your new Freedom of Information request on 10/11/2020. Freedom of Information requests are required, by law, to be responded to within 20 working days. This does not include weekend days and bank holidays. Therefore, your request is due back to you no later than 08/12/2020.

Should we experience any issues with getting our response to you by this date, we will keep you informed.

Kind regards,
 
The Freedom of Information Team | UK Statistics Authority | Awdurdod Ystadegau’r Deyrnas Unedig
@UKStatsAuth | [email address] | http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk

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Our Reference: FOI/2020/1028

Dear Peter

Thank you for your email requesting data pertaining to whether COVID-19
deaths with no underlying health conditions tested positive.

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