Death certificates and causes

There have been over 180,000 UK deaths involving Covid-19.

What does a death certificate show? As well as personal details and factual information, there are two parts about causes:

• Part I: This is the main causal sequence of disease or conditions that led to the death.
• Part II: Other conditions that were not part of the main chain which were likely to hasten the death.

In the first part, clinicians write the direct cause of death at the start (1a). Doctors work…