EXCESS MORTALITY IN SAMARA REGION DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant damage to humanity worldwide. Over 500 million people have recovered from COVID-19 and over 6 million people have died from it. Restrictive measures taken by governments to prevent the spread of infection had negative economic impacts. Health care systems of most countries demonstrated significant shortcomings. Many countries have recorded excess deaths not only from COVID-19, but also from the negative consequences caused by the pandemic. The purpose of the study is to analyze and evaluate excess mortality in the Samara region during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods. To analyze excess mortality, we used the COVID mortality multiplier (CMM). The calculation was carried out according to Rosstat data on the registered deaths from COVID-19 and daily published reports of the Operational Headquarters on the number of deaths from COVID-19. The multiplier was calculated for each month of the period under review, from April 2020 to December 2021. Results. The data obtained show that during the first two waves of the pandemic, excess mortality was due not only to those who died from COVID-19, but also due to negative consequences of the pandemic, which caused excess deaths. The multiplier showed very high figures. Since April 2021, the figures have been reducing to moderate, which suggests that the main reason for excess mortality was the novel coronavirus infection. The calculation method applied in the study can also be used while analyzing excess mortality in any other epidemiological emergencies.