OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says that more than 19,000 Canadians lost their lives during COVID-19 than would have been expected if the pandemic had never occurred.
The report highlights the deadly cost that COVID-19 has taken directly and indirectly on the lives of Canadians.
According to provisional data, approximately 19,488 more Canadians died between March 2020 and July 2021 than expected.
That’s 5.2 percent more deaths than if the pandemic had never happened.
During that time period, Statistics Canada says that while 25,465 people died as a direct consequence of contracting the virus, the pandemic also delayed medical procedures and led to an increase in substance use that could also have contributed to the death toll.
On the other hand, some lives may have been saved by other causes, including public health measures that prevented the flu from spreading as usual last year.
The numbers do not reflect all the deaths that occurred, as some are still being investigated, so the data may represent below the actual number of deaths attributed to certain causes, including suicides.
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They have also been adjusted to take account of changes in the population, such as aging.
The highest number of deaths occurred in the spring and fall of 2020.
There were no significant numbers of additional deaths between mid-January 2021 and the end of July 2021, according to the agency, despite the fact that COVID-19 claimed 6,255 lives in Canada during that time.
According to Statistics Canada, approximately 19,488 more Canadians died between March 2020 and July 2021 beyond the number of victims of COVID-19. #COVID # COVID-19 #deaths
However, some provinces, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, were an exception.
British Columbia and Alberta also saw more people die than normally expected last summer when a heat wave swept through both provinces.
Statistics Canada hopes to release a more complete picture of how many more people have died as a result of the pandemic by the end of November.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 8, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com