30% more deaths last week than expected

The increase in the number of deaths continues, figures from last week show. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) noted a striking number of deaths in people aged 65 or older. The researchers won't know until later what caused these deaths. But the cause is likely the new wave of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

Last week nearly 3,850 people died. That's 900 more than was expected based on death rates in previous years and demographic trends.

It is expected that the number of deaths is sometimes higher and sometimes lower. Excess mortality occurs only when many more people die than usual. That has been the case almost every week since the beginning of August.

Last week, the number of people over 80 who died in particular increased. But there was also an increase in the number of deaths among people aged 65 to 80. This fall, the researchers noted only a few weeks of excess mortality in younger age groups.

Funeral directors are under "spread pressure," according to their trade association BGNU. "One is anxiously silent, the other is extremely busy, such as in Limburg," said BGNU director Heidi van Haastert.

A person who dies must be buried or cremated within six working days. The funeral directors still manage that. According to the BGNU, there is enough space for relatives to say goodbye to a loved one in peace. "We have quite a bit of overcapacity in the industry. We have enough fat on the bones, and we can still expand. We absorb this very well." Cemeteries and morgues also have sufficient space, according to the association.