During the Omicron wave in January 2022, over-deaths increased, especially in places such as British Columbia and Quebec, where the number of unexpected deaths rose by 20% above expectations if the pandemic never happened.
About 40,349 more people have died than expected since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, according to the country’s vital statistics agency.
Unexpected deaths represent a 7.4% increase in the number of people who died nationwide if the pandemic never occurred, according to updated data released Thursday by Statistics Canada.
Excess mortality measures how many deaths actually occurred compared to what was expected under normal circumstances. This is one of the ways in which researchers have been able to determine the true number of lives lost due to COVID-19. Last month, the World Health Organization said the number of global deaths during the pandemic had risen to nearly 15 million.
During the same period, only 32,490 deaths were directly attributed to COVID-19, a difference, according to Statistics Canada researchers, may be the result of “indirect consequences” of the pandemic, such as delayed medical procedures, increased substance use or a drop in deaths. cases of endemic diseases such as influenza.
The deadly legacy of Omicron
When the highly contagious version of Omicron hit the Canadian population in late 2021 and early 2022, many Canadians experienced relatively mild symptoms of COVID-19.
But as public health officials and experts noted at the time, its highly contagious nature meant more people were infected, leading to a higher cumulative risk of death.
The latest Statistics from Canada confirms that over-deaths increased in Canada in January 2022 in a “new period of significant over-mortality”.
The number of unexpected deaths in Canada rose to 4,085 in January, a 13.2 percent jump from the expected pandemic.
Some groups of Canadians face higher-than-expected mortality than others.
With more than 904 deaths, British Columbia experienced one of the highest over-mortality rates of 22.2 percent. It was just behind Quebec, which saw a 22.4% increase in the number of unexpected deaths.
In BC, mortality among younger men increased
Younger Canadians and men also died at higher rates in January 2022, especially in the country’s western provinces.
Deaths under the age of 45 were approximately 50% higher than expected in Alberta and British Columbia, while in the older groups in these provinces, the death rate fell to less than half, hovering around 20%.
Nationally, there were 11.7% more deaths among men in January than 6.8% for women. But this difference was not consistent across the country.
At 1.6 times higher than the national average, BC reports the highest male mortality rate in the country. The number of men who died in British Columbia in January 2022 was 26.5% higher than expected, compared with a 16.5% increase in women, according to Canadian statistics.
The statistics agency said there was still no data on why and how people died in January 2022.
It is important to keep in mind, researchers from Statistics Canada warned, deaths from both direct and indirect effects of COVID-19.
As they say, “many over-deaths among younger Canadians may be due to other causes, such as overdose.”
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