COVID-19 Still Keeping Mortality High in Australia

Covid-19 is still keeping mortality rate high in Australia. Through a research, the experts showed that the country is still having above-average mortality rate because of COVID-19 and the disease’s impact will continue to be felt for years to come.

The Australian Actuaries Institute found that there were 8400 excess deaths in the country, which meant five per cent more people died than would be expected in 2023.

The excess mortality rate was still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

About 4,600 deaths were directly attributed to Covid-19, the ninth leading cause of death in 2023.

Non-Covid-19 excess deaths, meanwhile, were “particularly apparent” in Australians over 75 years old — with previous infections and interruptions in healthcare related to Covid increasing risks related to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and dementia.

Delays in routine or emergency care and undiagnosed Covid-19 were cited as possible reasons for the higher-than-usual death rate.

It was found that each successive Covid-19 wave has resulted in fewer deaths than the previous one.

The report also found Australia’s excess mortality was lower than the global average — with Ecuador, Mexico and Russia showing the highest rates of unexplained deaths.

New Zealand had the lowest excess mortality rate of the 40 countries for which data was available.