Czech Republic sets new monthly death record

According to the Czech Statistical Office, the number of January deaths in the Czech Republic broke historical records. According to preliminary data, 15,900 people died in January, which is half the five-year average. The death toll rose by 5,300. The January death toll also exceeded last November’s maximum from the autumn wave of high mortality. According to experts, the reasons for the increase are not given in the statistics, but the coronavirus epidemic contributes significantly to it. According to the Ministry of Health, 4,767 people died of covid in January. The number of deaths in January has never been higher since 1950 than this year, said CZSO chairman Marek Rojíček.

In recent years, between 9,500 and 12,400 people have died in January. “Historically in time series absolute figures from 1950 was the number of people who died in January, never more than this year. The closest to him was the figure of 1970, when it was in January, during the great epidemic of the so-called Hong Kong flu, reported 15,300 deaths,” said Rojíček.

According to the Ministry of Health, 4767 people died with coronavirus in January, the second-highest number of deaths due to the epidemic after November. In November, 4973 people died with covid, and over 4,000 are dead in February. So far, more than 1,400 people have died with the covid in eight days in March. The daily average for March is so far the highest, with 176 dead. In November, it was 165 dead with a covid per day, in January 153, in February 144.

According to the CZSO, there were 148 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in January, while on average January from 2015 to 2019, it was 100 deaths.

According to the CZSO, the total number of deaths in January exceeded the November maximum, 15,700 dead. However, the relative increase in the number of deaths compared to the five-year average was more pronounced in November, 77 percent above the norm. According to statistics, there are generally fewer deaths in November. Compared to November, the higher number of deaths in January generally supports a higher overall January mortality rate and one day longer.

According to the CZSO, most people died on January 6, with 571 deaths. The number of fatalities decreased during January but remained above average even at the end of the month. In the first week of January, the daily average of deaths was 539, in the second 528, in the third 504, and the last 475. “Comparable numbers for the first four weeks of 2020 ranged from 321 to 334 deaths,” said Terezie Štyglerová from CZSO demographic statistics.

As in last autumn’s wave, more men than women were affected by the worsening mortality in January. The death toll per 100,000 population increased by 58 percent for men and 38 percent for the five-year January average. In terms of age, the highest mortality rate was between 75 and 84-year-old men, by 61 percent.

As for the regions, the number of deaths in January was highly above average in all. The five-year average was mostly exceeded by the Karlovy Vary region, where it more than doubled this year. 

The number of deaths in the Karlovy Vary Region, as the only region, grew steadily in the individual weeks of January. In the Hradec Králové Region, the number of deaths in January was 85 percent above the five-year average, in the Moravian-Silesian Region by 63 percent, and in the Liberec Region by 62 percent. On the contrary, the lowest number of deaths rose compared to Prague’s average by 27 percent. Statisticians record an increase of less than 40 percent only in the Pilsen and South Bohemian regions.

According to an earlier statement by demographer Dagmar Dzúrová from the Department of Social Demography, Faculty of Science, Charles University, the connection between the increased number of deaths and the covid epidemic is demonstrable. According to her, the weekly numbers of so-called overweights, deviations from the long-term average, are related to the numbers of deaths of covid-19. Restrictions on preventive care, premature deaths from cancer or diseases of the circulatory system, or fears of a doctor’s visit also play a role.