Excess mortality rising again

Last week an estimated 3,450 people died in the Netherlands, over 400 more than expected for this time of the year. After showing a brief decline, the excess mortality last week was also 150 higher than the week before, Statistics Netherlands said on Friday.

According to the stats office, the number of deaths tends to increase in winter, but not as much as this. The number of deaths has been higher than normal since the end of September, coinciding with the second wave of coronavirus infections in the country.

In total, 4,300 more people than usual died in the first 10 weeks of the second coronavirus wave. During the first wave, excess mortality was nearly 9 thousand. But in the first wave, mortality returned to normal after the first nine weeks. There is no signs of that happening yet in the second wave.

With the exception of the heat wave in August, the mortality rate in the Netherlands was slightly lower than normal in the period between the first coroanvirus wave ending and the second one starting.