![]() ![]() In Britain, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimated that delays in emergency departments were leading to 300-500 additional deaths a week. For other countries this winter, hospital overcrowding was a relatively novel experience that many blamed, at least in part, for the rise in deaths. ![]() Ireland is used to trolley crises, so delays in treatment have long been a factor in our death rates. Flu has accounted for 127 deaths so far this winter, but we do not have official figures for other respiratory deaths. This winter, simultaneous waves of flu, Covid and other respiratory ailments have put health services across Europe under extreme pressure, leading to record attendances at emergency departments and record levels of hospital overcrowding. We are certainly running above average in the international rankings. Now, we may be reaping the whirlwind of all those missed medical appointments and lack of exercise. Ireland experienced relatively low excess deaths during the height of the pandemic as the country locked down for long periods. ![]() It is only when they are young that it gets attention - Dr Fergal Hickey of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine When someone in their 70s or 80s dies, no one asks was there a delay in their treatment. Alcohol-related deaths were up 12,000-15,000 on previous trends homicide and road deaths combined were up 10,000 and drug deaths also rose. High blood pressure and heart disease accounted for a third of these deaths. In the US, for example, almost 100,000 more people a year died from non-Covid causes during the pandemic up to the end of 2021. But equally, many non-Covid deaths arose from the pandemic and its impact on our wider physical and mental health. Not every death with Covid is a death from Covid. ![]() But we’ve also seen the return of flu and other bugs, and I don’t think people are as hyper-conscious about hygiene as they were during the pandemic.”Īs we have been learning, the pandemic’s malign influence spread far and wide. “The population in the county is getting bigger, and also older, and these are factors. In Mayo, O’Connor is keeping an open mind about what is causing the extra deaths reported to his office. Yet hot weather has never been a big contributor to deaths in Ireland and no spike was seen during last summer. Deaths in Europe last July were 16 per cent above the expected average, according to Eurostat. The rest arises from a wide variety of factors that may vary from country to country.Īcross continental Europe, for example, last summer’s record heatwaves was blamed for an estimated 20,000 deaths. However, Covid can only explain a fraction of the additional number of people dying. Though vaccination and mutation has blunted its threat, the virus is still a significant cause of death in Ireland – there were 132 Covid-related deaths last November, 170 in December and at least 118 in January. The first and most obvious cause for the rise in mortality is the continuing circulation of Covid, a disease that did not exist before late 2019. In April 2020, for example, deaths jumped 37 per cent above expected levels. In trying to understand what is going on, it is important to remember that the surges in deaths now being seen in Ireland and other countries are a fraction of those that occurred at the height of the pandemic. It is one of the most important health statistics because it can show that something is wrong. Because it looks at deaths from all causes, it can help show the true impact of an event, be it a pandemic or a war. After all, shouldn’t death rates be falling in the wake of the Covid pandemic, which was particularly lethal for older age groups?Įxcess mortality is the number of deaths beyond what would be normally expected. The trend has surprised many scientists and led to some wild speculation. It is one of the most important health statistics because it can show that something is wrongĪccording to the European Mortality Monitoring project (Euromomo) the number of deaths in the region has been larger than usual every month since June 2022. Deaths in both Germany and Switzerland were up about 10 per cent on previous averages.Įxcess mortality is the number of deaths beyond what would be normally expected. Last year there were nearly 40,000 excess deaths in the UK and, in the last two weeks of 2022, deaths were a fifth higher than the average from before the pandemic. A similar trend has been observed in other countries. ![]()
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