The editorial answers you | Who dies from COVID-19?

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Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot
The Press

Those who think that the COVID-19 pandemic is over are in the field: for each month of the year, in Quebec there were more deaths linked to COVID-19 in 2022 than in 2021. is especially true this summer, with the seventh wave.

July is not yet over and there are already 265 deaths this month (as of the 26th), while there were only 15 in July 2021, the least deadly month of the pandemic. As for the month of June, it was also much more deadly in 2022 (116 deaths) than in 2021 (64 deaths).

Who has died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic? Here is the robot portrait of a Quebecer who died of COVID-19: an 83-year-old man, who died in a CHSLD or in the hospital.

The average age of people who have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic is 83 years old. From March 2021 to December 2021, the average age decreased significantly, settling at 76-77 during the third and fourth waves.

As of July 26, 15,889 Quebecers had died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, a mortality rate of 185 deaths per 100,000 people. Men have a higher mortality rate than women.

By comparison, the US has a death rate of 305 deaths per 100,000 people, the UK 272, France 225, Canada 112, Australia 44, and Japan. , 26, according to data from OurWorldinData/Oxford University.

In general, the older a person is, the greater the risk of dying from COVID-19.

People aged 80 and over represent 5% of the Quebec population, but 69% of deaths linked to COVID-19 and 36% of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19.

Since the start of the pandemic, 41% of deaths related to COVID-19 have taken place in hospitals or CHSLDs, 20% in private seniors’ residences, 5% in intermediate resources (living environments for people with semi -autonomous or with a loss of autonomy), while 34% of deaths took place at home (this figure includes unknown places of death).

Please note that even though 89% of deaths linked to COVID-19 have occurred in people aged 70 and over (for the sixth wave only, it is 88% of deaths), COVID-19 remains dangerous for all groups of people. age, especially because of the risks of hospitalization and the potential consequences of a long COVID. In the UK, between 4% and 5% of the population have at least one long-lasting COVID symptom more than three months after their infection.

The risks of hospitalization are also very real. For example, those under 40 have accounted for 14% of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and those under 60, 28%.