COVID-19 Health Inequalities Monitoring in England tool (CHIME)
A national tool that brings together data to monitor the direct impacts of COVID-19 on health inequalities.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The COVID-19 Health Inequalities Monitoring in England (CHIME) tool brings together data relating to the direct impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) on factors such as mortality rates, hospital admissions, confirmed cases and vaccinations.
By presenting inequality breakdowns -– including by age, sex, ethnic group, level of deprivation and region -– the tool provides a single point of access to:
- show how inequalities have changed during the course of the pandemic and what the current cumulative picture is
- bring together data in one tool to enable users to access and use the intelligence more easily
- provide indicators with a consistent methodology across different data sets to facilitate understanding
- support users to identify and address inequalities within their areas, and identify priority areas for recovery
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In the December 2022 update, data have been updated for deaths, hospital admissions and vaccinations. Data on inequalities in vaccination uptake within lower tier local authorities have been added to the tool for the first time.
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Indicators for deaths, hospital admissions and vaccinations updated with latest available data. Indicators of confirmed cases by ethnic group updated to March 2022. Changes made to the rates presented for confirmed cases.
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Indicators updated to include latest available data, where available. The mortality indicators for local authorities are now also available with a breakdown by sex, for the first time. Change to publication schedule for CHIME added.
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Indicators updated to include latest available data, where available.
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Indicators updated to include latest available data. A breakdown by sex has been added to many of the indicators of vaccination uptake: within England as a whole, data for males and females is now available for many of the inequality breakdowns. Indicators of hospital admissions, where COVID-19 was the primary reason for the admission, are provided by level of deprivation within upper-tier local authorities for the first time. These are cumulative age-standardised monthly admission rates by deprivation quintile.
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Data updated for all indicators with the exception of hospital admissions data and confirmed cases broken down by ethnic group.
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Indicators have been updated with the latest available data, including the release of provisional life expectancy estimates for 2021. The February release of the CHIME tool included mortality rates for upper tier local authorities, and deprivation quintiles within upper tier local authorities, for deaths involving COVID-19. These have been supplemented in this update with comparable mortality rates for all causes of deaths and deaths not involving COVID-19. Data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 were not updated in the February release of the CHIME tool. They have been updated in this release and the change to the COVID-19 case definition which was made in February 2022 has been adopted. The impact of the change in case definition on data for ethnic groups is still being investigated, however, and so data for confirmed cases broken down by ethnic group have not been updated.
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Indicators have been updated with the latest available data, but an update for indicators of confirmed cases has not been possible in this release. This release includes cumulative mortality rates for upper tier local authorities, and deprivation quintiles within upper tier local authorities. These are age-standardised cumulative mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19, from March 2020 to December 2021. The quintiles are based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019, with the population of each local authority divided into 5, based on roughly equal numbers of Lower Super Output Areas.
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Indicators updated to provide latest data, where available. New indicators have been added to show inequalities in the percentage of adults who have received a third vaccination (booster or third dose). For confirmed cases of COVID-19, cumulative rates by age group and sex within upper tier local authorities have been added. Short questionnaire opened.
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Indicator data updated to include latest available data (an update for hospital admission indicators was not possible). Local authorities added to the CHIME tool for the first time, in response to user feedback. Indicators of cumulative rates for confirmed cases of COVID-19 for upper tier local authorities and deprivation quintiles within UTLAs have been added. Converted 2 guidance documents from PDF to HTML to improve accessibility.
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Indicator data updated to include latest available data. The provisional life expectancy estimates and life expectancy breakdowns are now based on final data for 2020. In response to user feedback, the age groups used for age-specific rates for confirmed cases by ethnic group have been changed so that working age populations are more easily identifiable. The new age groups are: 0 to 24, 25 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65+. These replace the previous age groups: 0 to 24, 25 to 49, 50 to 74 and 75+.
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New update to interactive dashboard.
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The CHIME tool now includes vaccination data.
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New update to interactive dashboard.
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First published.
Update history
2026-02-23 13:50
Added 4 data tables (CHIME tool deaths all causes, March 2020 to January 2023, CHIME tool hospital admissions, March 2020 to January 2023, CHIME tool life expectancy and CHIME tool definitions).
2023-05-24 15:07
Updated page announcing a pause to the CHIME tool.
2023-03-16 09:30
Data updated for deaths, hospital admissions and vaccinations. Data on inequalities in vaccination uptake within upper tier local authorities added to the tool for first time. This replaces data for lower tier local authorities, published in December 2022, allowing the reporting of a wider range of inequality breakdowns within these areas.
2022-12-15 09:30
In the December 2022 update, data have been updated for deaths, hospital admissions and vaccinations. Data on inequalities in vaccination uptake within lower tier local authorities have been added to the tool for the first time.
2022-09-15 09:30
Indicators for deaths, hospital admissions and vaccinations updated with latest available data. Indicators of confirmed cases by ethnic group updated to March 2022. Changes made to the rates presented for confirmed cases.
2022-07-21 09:30
Indicators updated to include latest available data, where available. The mortality indicators for local authorities are now also available with a breakdown by sex, for the first time. Change to publication schedule for CHIME added.
2022-06-16 09:30
Indicators updated to include latest available data, where available.
2022-05-19 09:30
Indicators updated to include latest available data. A breakdown by sex has been added to many of the indicators of vaccination uptake: within England as a whole, data for males and females is now available for many of the inequality breakdowns. Indicators of hospital admissions, where COVID-19 was the primary reason for the admission, are provided by level of deprivation within upper-tier local authorities for the first time. These are cumulative age-standardised monthly admission rates by deprivation quintile.
2022-04-21 09:30
Data updated for all indicators with the exception of hospital admissions data and confirmed cases broken down by ethnic group.
2022-03-17 09:30
Indicators have been updated with the latest available data, including the release of provisional life expectancy estimates for 2021. The February release of the CHIME tool included mortality rates for upper tier local authorities, and deprivation quintiles within upper tier local authorities, for deaths involving COVID-19. These have been supplemented in this update with comparable mortality rates for all causes of deaths and deaths not involving COVID-19. Data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 were not updated in the February release of the CHIME tool. They have been updated in this release and the change to the COVID-19 case definition which was made in February 2022 has been adopted. The impact of the change in case definition on data for ethnic groups is still being investigated, however, and so data for confirmed cases broken down by ethnic group have not been updated.
2022-02-17 09:30
Indicators have been updated with the latest available data, but an update for indicators of confirmed cases has not been possible in this release. This release includes cumulative mortality rates for upper tier local authorities, and deprivation quintiles within upper tier local authorities. These are age-standardised cumulative mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19, from March 2020 to December 2021. The quintiles are based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019, with the population of each local authority divided into 5, based on roughly equal numbers of Lower Super Output Areas.
2022-01-20 09:30
2021-12-16 09:30
Indicator data updated to include latest available data (an update for hospital admission indicators was not possible). Local authorities added to the CHIME tool for the first time, in response to user feedback.Indicators of cumulative rates for confirmed cases of COVID-19 for upper tier local authorities and deprivation quintiles within UTLAs have been added.Converted 2 guidance documents from PDF to HTML to improve accessibility.
2021-11-18 09:30
Indicator data updated to include latest available data.The provisional life expectancy estimates and life expectancy breakdowns are now based on final data for 2020. In response to user feedback, the age groups used for age-specific rates for confirmed cases by ethnic group have been changed so that working age populations are more easily identifiable. The new age groups are: 0 to 24, 25 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65+. These replace the previous age groups: 0 to 24, 25 to 49, 50 to 74 and 75+.