Died of covid solely feb20-dec21

Summary

The requester asked for Isle of Man COVID-19 death statistics broken down by age and gender where COVID was the sole cause of death between February 2020 and December 2021. The Cabinet Office refused to disclose the specific breakdown, citing exemptions related to health records and data protection, while directing the requester to existing online data and the Civil Registry.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 2022-01-24 and responded to on 2022-02-21.
• The authority holds the requested data but considers it absolutely exempt.
• The exemption is based on the information constituting deceased persons' health records.
• Disclosure was deemed to contravene data protection principles under the GDPR.
• Requesters are advised to contact the Civil Registry for death certificate enquiries.

Data Disclosed

• 2022-01-24
• 2022-02-21
• feb 2020
• dec 2021
• 2210086
• 2210285
• 2099101
• 1993
• 2018

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20 of the Act (information already reasonably accessible)
• Section 25(1)(c) of the Act (health records)
• Section 25 of the Act (personal data)
• Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (data protection principles)
• Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (lawful processing conditions)

Original Request

Pls supply deaths caused solely by covid19, where covid is the only cause of death listed on the death certificate, broken down by age group and gender between feb 2020 up to and including dec 2021?".

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 2210086 21 February 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 24 January 2022 and which states:

"Pls supply deaths caused solely by covid19, where covid is the only cause of death listed on the death certificate, broken down by age group and gender between feb 2020 up to and including dec 2021?"."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee. Some of the information that you have requested is available online here: https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/search. Please see previous Freedom of Information responses, 2210285 - Ages of Covid Deaths and 2099101 – Updated death Certificate Data, which show Deaths caused by Covid listed on the death certificate. We hold the information broken down further under the requested age group and gender but we believe that constitutes absolutely exempt information. The reason why this exemption applies is because in this instance the information requested is concerning deceased person’s health records and these records are exempt from disclosure under section 25(1)(c) of the Act. In this Act “health record” means a record which “consists of information relating to the physical or mental health of an individual who can be identified from that information, or from that and other information in the possession of the holder of the record.” Access to health records is governed by the Access to Health Records and Reports Act 1993 and further information on how to access this information can be found at: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/statutory-boards/manx-care/information- governance-team/?iomg-device=Desktop. It is also absolutely exempt personal under Section 25 of the Act as: • The Cabinet Office is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Cabinet Office can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for

lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met. However, Death certificates providing age and gender and listed as with Covid are held by the Civil Registry and enquiries relating directly to death certificates and their release should be made directly to the Civil Registry so you may wish to contact them directly: Civil Registry, The Registries Building, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man,
IM1 3AR. E-mail: civil@registry.gov.im Telephone: +44 1624 687039. Please quote the reference number 2210086 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely