NHS England publish daily updated data on the number of deaths by patients in hospitals in England that had tested positive for COVID-19. This note provides a summary of the key data for London from this release alongside related data published by the Office for National Statistics.
This update contains data on deaths related to COVID-19 from:
- NHS England COVID-19 Daily Deaths - last updated on 13 April 2021 with data up to and including 12 April 2021.
- ONS weekly deaths by Local Authority - last updated on 13 April 2021 with data up to and including 02 April 2021.
- Number of deaths in care homes notified to the Care Quality Commission, England - last update on 13 April 2021 with data up to and including 09 April 2021.
Summary notes about each these sources are provided at the end of this document.
Note on interpreting deaths data: statistics from the available sources differ in definition, timing and completeness. It is important to understand these differences when interpreting the data or comparing between sources.
Weekly Key Points
- An additional 21 deaths in London hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 and an additional 17 where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were announced in the week ending 12 April 2021. This compares with 26 and 13 for the previous week.
- A total of 198 deaths in hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 and 98 where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were announced for England as whole. This compares with 200 and 67 for the previous week.
- The total number of COVID-19 deaths reported in London hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 is now 14,807. The total number of deaths in London hospitals where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate is now 1,119.
- This compares to figures of 86,632 and 5,485 for English hospitals as a whole.
- Due to the delay between death occurrence and reporting, the estimated number of deaths to this point will be revised upwards over coming days
- These figures do not include deaths that occurred outside of hospitals. Data from ONS has indicated that the majority (78%) of COVID-19 deaths in London have taken place in hospitals.
Recently announced deaths in Hospitals
| 06 April | 07 April | 08 April | 09 April | 10 April | 11 April | 12 April | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | No positive test | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| London | Positive test | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Rest of England | No positive test | 13 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Rest of England | Positive test | 37 | 32 | 29 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 31 |
| 01 March | 08 March | 15 March | 22 March | 29 March | 05 April | 12 April | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | No positive test | 52 | 51 | 32 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 17 |
| London | Positive test | 170 | 132 | 119 | 72 | 21 | 26 | 21 |
| Rest of England | No positive test | 215 | 171 | 152 | 122 | 87 | 54 | 81 |
| Rest of England | Positive test | 1,505 | 970 | 661 | 428 | 303 | 174 | 177 |
Deaths by date of occurrence
| 06 April | 07 April | 08 April | 09 April | 10 April | 11 April | 12 April | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 15,915 | 15,917 | 15,921 | 15,921 | 15,926 | 15,926 | 15,926 |
| Rest of England | 76,094 | 76,115 | 76,147 | 76,165 | 76,175 | 76,186 | 76,191 |
Interpreting the data
The data published by NHS England are incomplete due to:
- delays in the occurrence and subsequent reporting of deaths
- deaths occurring outside of hospitals not being included
The total deaths reported up to a given point are therefore less than the actual number that have occurred by the same point.
Delays in reporting
NHS provide the following guidance regarding the delay between occurrence and reporting of deaths:
Confirmation of COVID-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure. This means that the totals reported at 5pm on each day may not include all deaths that occurred on that day or on recent prior days.
The data published by NHS England for reporting periods from April 1st onward includes both date of occurrence and date of reporting and so it is possible to illustrate the distribution of these reporting delays. This data shows that approximately 10% of COVID-19 deaths occurring in London hospitals are included in the reporting period ending on the same day, and that approximately two-thirds of deaths were reported by two days after the date of occurrence.