tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Public Health
. 2020 Dec 11;8:620416.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.620416. eCollection 2020.
Comparison of Deaths Rates for COVID-19 across Europe During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Leonardo Villani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin McKee[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Fidelia Cascini[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Walter Ricciardi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Stefania Boccia[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Europe overall suffered greatly in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic but the impact of different countries varied. Italy was in the forefront, but there too there were differences, with the Lombardy region the epicentre of the pandemic. Methods: We report Crude Mortality Rates (CMRs) from deaths reported as due to COVID-19 and, in five countries where age-specific data are available, Standardized Mortality Rates (SMRs) in the European Union and United Kingdom. Results: As of 30th August 2020, Belgium was the country with the highest cumulative CMR (86.3/100,000), but the Lombardy region reached almost double this figure (167.6/100,000), far ahead of the corresponding figure for the rest of Italy at 37.0/100,000. SMRs could be calculated for five countries (Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, and Netherlands). Among them, Sweden had the highest SMR (61.6/100,000). The corresponding figures for Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Germany were 50.2, 41.4, 15.9, and 10.1 per 100,000, respectively. Conclusion: It is clear that countries within Europe have performed very differently in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the many limitations in the available data must be addressed before a definitive assessment of the reasons for these differences can be made.
Keywords: COVID-19; death rates; epidemics; pandemics; standardized mortality rate.
. 2020 Dec 11;8:620416.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.620416. eCollection 2020.
Comparison of Deaths Rates for COVID-19 across Europe During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Leonardo Villani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin McKee[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Fidelia Cascini[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Walter Ricciardi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Stefania Boccia[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33425843
- PMCID: PMC7793870
- DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.620416
Abstract
Background: Europe overall suffered greatly in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic but the impact of different countries varied. Italy was in the forefront, but there too there were differences, with the Lombardy region the epicentre of the pandemic. Methods: We report Crude Mortality Rates (CMRs) from deaths reported as due to COVID-19 and, in five countries where age-specific data are available, Standardized Mortality Rates (SMRs) in the European Union and United Kingdom. Results: As of 30th August 2020, Belgium was the country with the highest cumulative CMR (86.3/100,000), but the Lombardy region reached almost double this figure (167.6/100,000), far ahead of the corresponding figure for the rest of Italy at 37.0/100,000. SMRs could be calculated for five countries (Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, and Netherlands). Among them, Sweden had the highest SMR (61.6/100,000). The corresponding figures for Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Germany were 50.2, 41.4, 15.9, and 10.1 per 100,000, respectively. Conclusion: It is clear that countries within Europe have performed very differently in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the many limitations in the available data must be addressed before a definitive assessment of the reasons for these differences can be made.
Keywords: COVID-19; death rates; epidemics; pandemics; standardized mortality rate.