Excess Deaths Climb in South Africa as Official Covid Deaths Fall
Excess Deaths Climb in South Africa as Official Covid Deaths Fall
Excess deaths in South Africa, seen as a more accurate assessment of Covid-19 deaths than mortality officially attributed to the disease, have begun to climb.
In the week ended Nov. 7, there were 1,531 excess deaths, the number of deaths over an historical average, of which 157 were officially attributed to the coronavirus, the South African Medical Research Council said in a Wednesday report.
That compared with 1,232 excess deaths in the week ended Oct. 31, when there were 156 deaths attributed to Covid-19, and 774 excess deaths in the week ended Oct. 17, while 249 were officially reported to have passed away because of the coronavirus during that period.
The SAMRC said it was too early to draw firm conclusions. To date, South Africa has recorded just under 90,000 official deaths from Covid-19 and more than 271,000 excess deaths.
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