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Hospital deaths are included in the Covid 19 statistics. However, those who die in a nursing home without a crown test are not recorded. Image: KEYSTONE
Hidden crown deaths can now be estimated.
The crown crisis causes more deaths than previously known. There are gaps in the statistics. A comparison of statistics now shows how big they could be.
The Federal Statistical Office uses the number of deaths in the past five years to calculate how many people normally die in a week. Statisticians compare these expected deaths with the deaths that civil registry offices regularly receive and extrapolate. The difference is the mortality rate that occurs during the flu and heat waves.
The latest figures show that in the five weeks near the peak of the crown crisis from mid-March to April, 1,660 more people died in Switzerland than usual during this period. But only 1,210 of them appear in the statistics of the Federal Office of Public Health with the deaths of Covid 19. This leaves 450 deaths that cannot be explained with official statistics.
Image: aargauerzeitung / kob | Source: BfS, bag
What is certain is that these unexplained deaths are related to the crown crisis. Because the crown death and death curves run parallel. Furthermore, the mortality rate is higher in the Lake Geneva region, in Ticino and in north-western Switzerland. The regions are the most infected.
In addition, the emergency regime has caused the number of accidents to drop. Fewer people die in traffic or mountaineering. And yet, the death rate is 37 percent higher than the official Covid 19 death toll.
Why the hidden deaths?
What are the reasons for hidden deaths? The focus is on two explanations.
The figures from the Federal Statistical Office are too low because they only contain those deaths in which a laboratory has previously provided evidence of Covid 19. No one will be registered who dies from the effects of the virus at home or in a nursing home. without having been tested.
Belgium takes a different approach. There, all deaths are included in the crown statistics in which the deceased had symptoms of Covid 19. This even if they have not been explicitly proven. The count has led Belgium to top Covid’s per capita statistics of 19 deaths worldwide. The goal of the method is to create as much transparency as possible, says Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes.
Other countries are also beginning to include Coronatote in official statistics outside of hospitals. Britain had to increase its death toll by more than 4,000 at one time this week.
Fewer dead than usual
That is the first explanation. The second refers to the indirect consequences of the pandemic.
Alexandar Tzankov conducts histopathology and autopsy at the University Hospital of Basel. He notes that, in addition to Covid’s 19 cases at the university hospital, slightly fewer patients have died since the onset of the crown crisis. You can only speculate on the reasons: “I suspect that some people with life-threatening illnesses were also involved in the center’s hospitals during this period.” Corona stations have been kept away. Perhaps some died at home or in other hospitals. “
Many patients avoid the hospital out of fear
Giovanni Pedrazzini is President of the Swiss Society of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiocenter in Lugano. He says half the number of patients or fewer have been hospitalized for heart attacks since the start of the crisis. Neurologists also note a decrease in strokes. Pedrazzini also emphasizes that at the moment he can only speculate on the reasons: “Especially elderly patients with heart problems may have stayed home despite signs of fear of crown infection.”
Hans Rickli, chief physician of cardiology at St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital, confirms the assumption: “We already have a number of patients who suffered a heart attack at home and are now arriving at the hospital with late heart failure.” A vicious cycle: rapid treatment is crucial for heart attacks and strokes. The longer patients wait, the worse their health will be later.
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