Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include care home deaths in the statistics reported at their COVID-19 daily briefings.

From 29 April, figures for deaths include all cases where there is a positive confirmed test for COVID-19. The figures include deaths with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in all settings, not just those in hospital, and this provides us with a single figure on an equivalent basis for the whole of the United Kingdom.

These UK figures are compiled from validated data provided by each of the four nations of the UK. Figures from Health Protection Scotland, Public Health Wales and the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland) have always included tested cases outside hospital. Figures for England from 29 April onwards are provided by Public Health England and draw together several different data sources, including data from NHS England and NHS Improvement, to produce this broader measure.

This approach allows us to compile deaths data on a daily basis using up-to-date figures across all settings.