Dutch COVID-19 death total nears 30 thousand

Some 1,611 people died from Covid-19 in the Netherlands in March this year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) stated. The confirmed Covid-19 death toll climbed to 28,741 through March, based on the preliminary figures from the CBS.

Public health agency RIVM also reported an additional 1,224 deaths from April 1 through June 30. That makes the estimated number of deaths caused by the disease 29,965.

There is no obligation to report deaths caused by Covid-19 to the RIVM. These reports are sometimes made voluntarily to a GGD branch, which passes the data on to the RIVM. However, all death reports in the Netherlands must eventually be filed with the CBS. Thus, through March, the CBS has learned of 12,217 more Covid-related deaths than the RIVM.

CBS stated that March’s coronavirus death rate was the lowest since the second wave of infections broke out in September last year. In March, 37% fewer people died from the coronavirus than in February.

"During the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of COVID-19 weekly deaths steadily increased from 139 in the week of September 21, 2020 (week 39), to 1,181 in week 53 (December 28, 2020, to January 3, 2021)," CBS stated. It dipped back down to 322 in the last week of March.

During the first week of this year, 29 percent of all deaths were caused by Covid-19. That figure steadily fell until the last week of March when it reached 11 percent.

The CBS figures are based on formal declarations of deaths provided by doctors. CBS receives them from the municipality where the patient's death has occurred. The figures in the latest CBS report are based on 97 percent of all data recorded in January and February 2021 and 95 percent of March data.