MORTALITY RATE ALICANTE 2023 | Deaths in Alicante will fall in 2023, but viruses will make a noticeable increase at the end of the year
He 2023 ended up in the province of Alicante with mortality rate is lower than in 2022, marking the first significant decline in this demographic since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic nearly four years ago. According to preliminary estimates published a few days ago National Institute of Statistics (INE)in the 52 calendar weeks that run from December 27, 2022 to December 25, 2023, people died in the province 17,529 people. This is not only the lowest figure since 2020, but also The decrease is noticeable compared to 2022: there are 463 fewer deaths, 2.57%. in relative terms.
Connected
However, This is still a high figure, significantly higher than in 2019.when 15,853 deaths were recorded, and even slightly higher than in 2020, in which 17,395 people were registered. That is, mortality continues to be significantly higher than before the pandemic and than in the first waves of Covid. It is worth bearing in mind that the province of Alicante has been particularly affected by the third wave of the health crisis and that The peak of mortality from coronavirus occurred at the beginning of 2021, and the data, fortunately, has no analogues with data obtained later.. However, figures show that healthcare has not been fully restored.
He peak mortality in 2023 happened this week from November 21 to 27; During these seven days, 444 people died.. This number is a far cry from the 762 deaths recorded just three years ago, between 12 and 18 January 2021, during the worst part of the third wave of the pandemic, as well as the 507 that was reached at the start. crisis, between 24 and 30 March 2020. Of course it remains very similar to the wave of coronavirus infections in early 2022: From January 25 to January 31 of the same year, 448 deaths were recorded. And more importantly: From then until the aforementioned week of November 21st to 27th, not many people died. within seven days.
If 2023 ended with more deaths than 2020, it was partly because, although such a high peak has not yet been reached Just like at the beginning of the pandemic, several episodes are not so strong, but important. And what’s worse The year ended with an upward trend. In this case it’s no longer just about covidbut also influenza and other respiratory viruses, which in recent weeks quite high incidence, which led to more hospitalizationsalthough not reaching alarming levels like those seen in March 2020 or January 2021.
From February 7 to February 13, 429 deaths were recorded.second highest figure of the year corresponding to the moment The highest health burden last winter. This time the crisis situation came early, and The number of deaths rose from 323 in the first week of November to 391 between the 7th and 13th of that month, reaching the aforementioned 444 deaths. between 21 and 27. Then there was a slight drop, but the upward trend returned from December 11 and did not subside; Between the 19th and Christmas Day, the last recorded to date, 408 people died, one of the highest totals for the year..
In this sense, it is worth remembering that Respiratory viruses have left emergency services overwhelmed this Christmas, with peaks in attendance at several hospitals in the province. Among these viruses is Covid, which is worth emphasizing that It has not disappeared, but resistance to it has now increased, so in the vast majority of cases it occurs with mild symptoms.. The fact is that Death rates are still much higher than in 2019. In this respect it is very significant.
More secure older people
INE provides preliminary mortality data by agewhich, in the specific case of the province of Alicante, allows us to observe how where mortality fell the most, these were some of the oldest. Throughout 2023 they were dying 3,843 people over 90, 277 less than last year. Based on age 5,903 people died between the ages of 80 and 89which also represents a decrease of 175 compared to 2022. Of course, both figures, which are high in absolute terms, They are significantly higher than in 2019..
The high proportion of people over 80 years of age in the total number of deaths indicates, on the one hand, that the population is aging, and the increase in deaths compared to those that occurred in 2019 also reminds us that this group is especially vulnerable to health crises such as covid or other respiratory viruses. Now the significant decline in deaths last year also shows that Older people are also more protected due to both public health actions such as vaccinations and the prevention practices they put into practice themselves. how to use masks From day to day.
From mid-July to the end of August, more than 2,300 people died. The 2023 mortality chart also shows several peaks during the summer weeks. With less evidence than in 2022, but much more clear than what happened in previous years. Between 11 and 17 July, 354 people died in Alicante province, making it one of the highest death weeks of the entire year. A further 346 men and women had already died in the previous week, with another peak of 345 deaths recorded between 15 and 21 August. Meanwhile, not a single week fell below 300.
In 2022, the situation was even more serious, the newspaper writes. From 19 to 25 July that year, 406 deaths were recorded, in addition to 395 and 384 in the previous two and 396 in the later, far exceeding the figures recorded in the summers of 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic. The stifling heat since early June undoubtedly played a decisive role in the high number of deaths. In 2023, temperatures were less extreme but consistently high throughout the summer, which also explains why summer mortality was again very high. However, there were several more deaths in August 2020 and 2021.
Thus, the figures clearly reflect that, along with diseases caused by viruses or other circumstances, heat will be one of the most important factors determining public health in the coming years. And its consequences may be as difficult to cope with as those of other health crises, although in this case preventive measures can be applied more easily and proactively. However, it is necessary to be prepared for the arrival of these extreme heat events.
Of the 2,313 deaths recorded in Alicante province between July 11 and August 21 last year, 520 were among people over 90 years old, and a further 753 between the ages of 80 and 89. That means more than half of the deaths that occurred in those seven weeks occurred among men and women over 80, which is the same as for the year as a whole. The figures clearly show that older people are much more vulnerable in negative situations, in this case extreme heat. But precisely because this is obvious, administrations will have to further emphasize the need to take preventive measures to protect this group.