Health & Fitness
CT Sees Significant Death Increase From 2019 To 2020: OCME
There was a 137 percent increase in deaths reported to the office in April 2020 compared to 2019; it largely mirrors COVID-19 deaths.
CONNECTICUT — New figures from the Office of the Medical Examiner show a significant increase in deaths reported during the months of March through May 2020 compared to the same time last year.
Around two-thirds of deaths are reported to the Office of the Medical Examiner, including COVID-19 deaths, said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill. Deaths reported to the office increased by nine percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019, 137 percent for April and 87 percent for May. January and February 2020 had slightly fewer deaths than the same time period in 2019.
The state Department of Public Health has access to all deaths over a given period of time, which can be used to determine excess mortality.
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“The number of reported deaths to the OCME is an indirect measure of excess mortality,” Gill said. “These numbers show marked increases in April and May corresponding to the increases in COVID-19 deaths. As the number of COVID-19 deaths started to decline from April to May, the number of reported deaths also declined.”
The vast majority of the excess deaths can be attributed to COVID-19, said state COO Josh Geballe at Tuesday's daily news conference. However, there were still 200 to 300 excess deaths that were not attributed to the disease. Some of those may be unidentified cases, however, it's much more likely that they are due to people avoiding hospitals for critical care procedures. Geballe urged people who need acute medical care to not be afraid to go to a hospital or to call their doctor for ongoing medical issues.
Find out what's happening in Across Connecticutfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The number of COVID-19 deaths are those that have COVID-19 listed on the death certificate and includes all COVID-19 deaths in Connecticut regardless if the person was state resident or not, Gill said. Certified deaths include both confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths.
“It will take time to analyze increases or decreases in mortality from other specific causes (such as suicidal injuries, accidental drug intoxications, heart attacks, etc.),” Gill said.
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