Over 2,000 Excess Deaths Recorded Since The Start Of The Pandemic

Thursday, 7 April 2022 09:21

By Caoimhe Harney

The majority of deaths were in people over the age of 65.

Just over 2 thousand excess deaths were recorded in Ireland since the start of the Covid pandemic.

New HIQA analysis shows Ireland's excess mortality during the second half of last year was among the lowest in Europe.

Excess deaths measure how many more people died during a period of time than would normally be expected.

HIQA says that between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and November 2021, there were an estimated 2,019.

A new report from the health watchdog shows they occurred during a seven week period from late March to mid May 2020 - and an 8 week period from early January to late February 2021.

Some 82 per cent of excess deaths were among people over the age of 65.

HIQA says Ireland’s relatively lower proportion of older adults, low population density and vaccination rollout all helped to reduce the levels of severe disease.

It also says some countries saw a peak in excess deaths in the second half of 2021 - but Ireland didn’t, and had one of the lowest rates in the EU.

Dr. Conor Telijur, HIQA's Chief Scientist discussed the report on Thursday morning's Kildare Today:

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