1. Addendum (2) to previous paper: To determine the population-level relative risk of hospitalisation or death that COVID-19 presents to people with different socio-demographic characteristics and co-morbidities. NSDEC (20)12.

1.1      This paper was submitted by Jonny Tinsley and Hannah McConnell from the ONS Health Analysis and Pandemic Insights Division. The paper presented a second addendum to a previous project originally taken to NSDEC in June 2020, the first addendum being in November 2020. This outlined 2 developments. The first development is the addition of new data into the already established data asset to be used in the main risk factor research. The second is the expansion of the study to include additional research based on the vaccines using the vaccination data which will be linked.

1.2       The Committee acknowledged the need for this additional research and were supportive of it. The Committee raised the following points for further consideration by the researcher:

• The Committee requested additional justification for why it is necessary that the Property Attributes data is to be incorporated into the linked dataset;
• The Committee advised that the communication of the results of the analysis regarding the impact of living in different locations or type of property will need careful handling to avoid the categorisation of individuals living in particular locations;

• The Committee emphasised that particular care should be taken with data security and statistical disclosure due to the size and sensitivity of the linked dataset, and;

• The Committee stressed the importance that there is both transparency and sensitivity in the way the use of this linked dataset is communicated to the public.

1.3       The Committee were supportive of the project and encouraged the further work to go ahead subject to the points raised in section 1.2 being addressed.

1.4       Action: Hannah McConnell to provide responses to the secretariat.