Over 40,000 Netherlands residents died of Covid

The coronavirus claimed the lives of 40,679 people in the Netherlands up to and including January of this year. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported this figure based on the official cause of death statements. The actual number of Covid-19 deaths is therefore considerably higher than the reports received by the RIVM. Its coronavirus dashboard recorded 22,324 deaths.

Cause of death statements invariably arrive at CBS later than the notification from the municipality that someone has died. As a result, it is impossible to say exactly which factors played a role in the most recent death figures. CBS still recorded excess mortality in May, but to a lesser extent than in April, the stats office said Thursday.

Excess mortality means that more people have died than expected for the time of year based on past figures. About 700 more people died in May, mainly people who received some form of long-term care, like nursing home residents. Mortality in May was also relatively high among the rest of the population, but the number of deaths fell within the fluctuations that can occur.

In April, the mortality rate was noticeably higher. An average of 400 more people died per week than usual. Researchers did not yet have enough data to explain the excess mortality but suspected a link with the coronavirus and the flu epidemic that was prevalent at the time. The RIVM declared the flu wave over on May 25.

The CBS figures showed that there was no longer any excess mortality in the last week of May, only in the first three weeks.