Excess mortality

Abstract

systems/health-working-papers.htm OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the author(s). Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works. Comments on Working Papers are welcomed, and may be sent to health.contact@oecd.org. This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected health studies prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language-English or French-with a summary in the other. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.

Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, March–November 2020: when, where, and for whom?

“…It should be noted that we see that mortality in January and February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, was lower than previous years, similar to that noted in many European countries, due to less severe and earlier seasonal diseases such as influenza in the winter of 2019/2020 [6]. It is important to compare only March to November mortality when checking for excess mortality from COVID-19, when COVID deaths began in Israel.…”

“…The OECD [6] used as a comparative measure the maximum aggregate excess mortality for each country over a 10-week period in the first wave (i.e. choosing the 10week period for which total excess mortality was highest).…”

“…Analysis of excess mortality in the US [1][2][3] and in other countries [4,5] has been done to try and show an accurate picture of the mortality effects of COVID-19, which may be masked, for example, in younger age groups. The OECD has published a working paper on excess mortality in 29 countries through the end of September, to help measure the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 [6]. Excess mortality can reflect both direct deaths from COVID-19 and indirect mortality due, for example, to a reduction in seeking of care, reduction in elective surgery and procedures, pressure on the health system and ill effects of lockdown.…”

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Policy Responses on Excess Mortality

“…Outside of the U.S., other studies have found increases in excess mortality of 61 percent in Spain, 56 percent in the United Kingdom, and five percent or lower in Germany, Denmark, and Norway (Morgan et al 2020). Other work finds increases in excess deaths in England, Wales, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Portugal (Félix-Cardoso et al 2020).…”

Establishing an ad hoc COVID-19 mortality surveillance during the first epidemic wave in Belgium, 1 March to 21 June 2020

“…This approach was initially met with criticism, both at the national and the international levels. However, by the end of April, international comparisons revealed that Belgium had a particularly exhaustive approach of reporting COVID-19 deaths [ 6 , 9 , 10 ]. Moreover, an excellent correlation between the all-cause excess mortality and the reported COVID-19 deaths could be shown on a daily basis [ 11 - 15 ].…”