The Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will issue a daily assessment of deaths specifically in care homes in England, drawing on existing death registration data from ONS but also adding in new data from CQC notification processes.

The figures will be included in the government’s daily announcements of Covid-19 deaths.

Currently, only data on deaths in England occurring in hospital settings of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 have been included in daily updates.

From today the daily UK count will show the total number of deaths for anyone with a positive test across all settings, including those out of hospital.

The figures, dating back from early March 2020 up to today, will be set out this afternoon at the daily press conference and published each day as part of the daily data reporting going forward.

The new figure will cover the whole of the UK, showing the number of deaths across all settings, whether they are in hospital, in a care home or in the community. This will include anyone who has died who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The ONS and CQC’s weekly series includes data with a time lag of up to 11 days, and includes suspected cases of coronavirus as denoted on death certificates.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales already report out of hospital deaths