Coronavirus remained the leading cause of death in early 2022 according to CBS

Statistics Netherlands reports this on the basis of established causes of death. Information about this is generally passed on to the statistical office later than the death itself. That is why a good picture of the causes of death can only be given after a few months.

Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the number of deaths attributable to corona was more than half lower at the beginning of this year. In the first three months of 2021, 8,964 people in the Netherlands died from Covid-19. This made the disease the cause of 19 percent of the total number of deaths.

At the beginning of this year, the omikron variant of the virus became ubiquitous. This usually makes people less sick than its predecessors, but the total number of infections was very high, especially in February. Every day tens of thousands of people received a positive test result from the GGD.

Mortality from Covid-19 was highest in March. Then, according to CBS figures, 1,443 people died from the disease caused by the coronavirus. In January 1004 people died as a result of their infection, in February 1033. Most (62 percent) were 80 years or older. About 8 percent of the people who died from corona at the beginning of this year were younger than 65.

Despite the deaths from the corona virus, the total number of deaths at the beginning of this year was not remarkably high according to CBS. There was no so-called excess mortality. In January and February, slightly fewer people died than would have been expected based on previous years. Cancer, cardiovascular and mental and nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, were the most common causes of death.

According to the statistical office, the coronavirus has killed 43,245 people in the Netherlands since the start of the outbreak, early 2020. Incidentally, part of this group has a suspicion that has not been confirmed by a positive test.