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FOI 2023 203 - Covid deaths, tests and incidences

 

Information Requested:

I would like to raise a freedom of information request for access to data made available openly on your platform. Unfortunately only the visualisation of data is made available without the opportunity to download/access the underlying data. We would like to request the daily number of deaths from COVID-19 from 15/03/2020 until most recent stratified by sex and age group, as well as the number of tests [people tested and positivity], as well as 7-day incidence

Further if there is an option for receiving up to date numbers on the above outlined data points (maybe they can be included on the website directly) we would be interested in learning about this feature. 

 

Information provided for the answer:

Thank you for your request dated 13th December 2023. 

 

Please see the documents attached to the email for the information requested. These include the following: 

  

  • Daily Deaths by age group and sex.csv – An aggregated count of the number of deaths by date of death, sex and age group.  

  • Weekly Deaths by age group and sex.csv – An aggregated count of the number of deaths by ISO week of death, sex and age group 

 

For ongoing information on tests and positivity the data is still available to download from here, updated weekly: 

PHW Virology Dashboard - Reports and notes | Tableau Public – click on “COVID-19 downloadable data”. 

 

Please consult these tabs in the COVID-19 downloadable data which are relevant for this information request: 

  

  • Tests by date : This shows the number of tests collected/preformed and the number tested positive on a given day.  These are not de-duplicated and may differ from the number of daily cases reported on the other tabs.   

  • DeathsByDate : This shows the number of deaths by date of death. The data is not stratified  

  

Seven-day incidence and positivity can be calculated by whatever method is appropriate for your study – essentially summing positive results over a 7 day period then taking the mean, combined with any age or geography-bounded population (StatsWales and ONS have population data).  

  

In interpreting these data, please note the following: 

  

  • Testing policy and patterns have changed dramatically both though and since the pandemic. For example, the introduction of lateral flow testing and the stopping of mass testing for COVID-19. Therefore, this data should be interpreted with caution.  

  • The number of sites reporting to Public Health Wales’s rapid mortality surveillance system has reduced since the pandemic. Therefore, comparisons of deaths at different time intervals should be undertaken with caution.   

 


If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of the decision, you should write to the Corporate Complaints Manager, Public Health Wales NHS Trust, 3, Number 2, Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street, Cardiff, CF10 4BZ.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint or review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Trust. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner for Wales
2nd Floor
Churchill House
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH

Telephone: 029 2067 8400
Email: wales@ico.org.uk