Records of the cause of death invariably arrive at Statistics Netherlands later than the notification from a municipality that someone has died. As a result, it is impossible to say exactly which factors played a role in the most recent death figures. There was still excess mortality in May, but to a lesser extent than in April, according to figures published by the statistical office on Thursday.
Excess mortality means that more people have died than expected based on past figures. About 700 more people died in May. This mainly concerned people who received some form of long-term care, such as nursing home residents. Mortality in May was also relatively high among the rest of the population, but the number of deaths fell within the fluctuations that can occur.
In April, the death rate was noticeably higher. At that time, an average of about four hundred people more died than usual. Researchers did not yet have enough data to explain that, but they suspected a connection with corona and the flu epidemic that was still prevalent at the time. RIVM declared on 25 May that the flu wave was over.
The CBS figures now make it clear that there was no longer any excess mortality in the last week of May. That was only the case in the three weeks before that.