No excess mortality in last two weeks of January

Nearly 15,000 people died in January, 9 percent more than expected for the time of year, Statistics Netherlands reported on Friday. There was excess mortality in the first two weeks of the month but not in the last two weeks. It was the first time in about a year that the Netherlands had no excess mortality for multiple weeks.

In December, there was excess mortality in all weeks. In that month, an average of 800 more people died per week than expected. In January, that dropped to just over 300 extra deaths per week.

Like in previous months, excess mortality was higher among residents of long-term care institutions than among the rest of the population. There were 10 percent more deaths among residents of long-term care institutions, like nursing homes or care institutions for people with disabilities, and 9 percent more deaths among the rest of the population. Among residents of long-term care institutions, there was excess mortality in the first two weeks of January. The rest of the population only had excess mortality in the first week.

Statistics Netherlands did not report the cause behind the reduced number of deaths. It is known that the number of coronavirus cases decreased in January, and the flu epidemic also started to slow down.