https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2022/06/08/covid-19-death-rate-in-ireland-currently-seventh-highest-in-the-world/Ireland
Ireland has highest Covid-19 death rate in Europe, new figures show
Number of fatalities per million people in Republic is seventh-highest in world
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A self-administered Covid-19 test. Ireland recorded 2.21 Covid-19 deaths per million people on June 1st, based on a seven-day rolling average, more than twice that of the UK (0.91) and the US (0.83). Photograph: ERA
By Paul Cullen
Tue Jun 7 2022 - 20:10
Ireland has one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world at present, according to international data. The number of Covid-19 deaths per million people in Ireland is currently the third highest in Europe and the seventh highest in the world, figures from Our World in Data show.
Only Taiwan, Portugal, Finland and New Zealand, along with the small island states of Montserrat and Barbados, have higher death rates.
Ireland recorded 2.21 Covid-19 deaths per million people on June 1st, based on a seven-day rolling average, more than twice that of the UK (0.91) and the US (0.83). During the pandemic Ireland’s highest daily death rate occurred in April 2020, when it reached 14.11.
It is not clear whether the apparent spike in Ireland’s figures is the result of a reporting quirk or is due to other causes. The Department of Health has been contacted for its interpretation of the figures.
According to department figures, the number of Covid-19 deaths rose gradually in the spring, peaking at 21 on March 31st, and has fallen since. The highest daily death toll in the pandemic occurred in February 1st, 2021, when 77 people died.
As recently as mid-May, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan described Covid-19 mortality in Ireland as stable.
Factors that could increase mortality include the lower-than-expected uptake of boosters, waning protection from vaccines over time and an exceedingly slow rollout of new antiviral treatments for Covid-19. While vaccines and prior infection provide protection for most of the population, immunocompromised and other vulnerable groups remain at risk.
According to economist Seamus Coffey, who has tracked Covid-19 excess mortality, the number of online death notices posted this spring has been higher than would be expected for the time of year. More notices were posted in April than in any other year bar April 2020, at the start of the pandemic.
International comparisons are difficult to make due to differing systems for recording and registering deaths. The process of registering deaths is slower in Ireland than elsewhere, leading to delays in calculating excess deaths.
Ireland records all deaths of people with Covid-19 as Covid-19 deaths, even when the virus was not the main cause of death. In recent months the Department of Health has said about half of cases in ICU are incidental, meaning the person was hospitalised for something other the Covid-19 but later tested positive for the virus.
