The true pain of COVID: 650 thousand deaths in Mexico

4 days after the WHO declared the end of the international emergency by COVID, Mexico did its thing. However, in the midst of this news that eased the nerves of many, there is something that we cannot turn our backs on or forget: deaths in our country during the pandemic.

According to the same Ministry of Health, between 2020 and 2022 the accumulated excess deaths (mortality) has been 650 thousand 602.

(And it is that although the Confirmed deaths from COVID in this period were registered at 331,365the Ministry of Health also took into account excess mortality, which is nothing other than the total number of deaths directly or indirectly related to the COVID-19 pandemic).

650 thousand deaths related to the COVID pandemic in Mexico

The page coronavirus.gob.mx —created so that we would be aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the first case registered in Mexico— is still in service.

There we check the information about the excess mortality from all causes during the COVID emergencyin the period between 2020 and 2022.

And as we mentioned at the beginning of this note, the Ministry of Health registered a total of 331 thousand 365 deaths from COVID.

Although the excess mortality remained at 650 thousand 602 deaths. Of this, 77.7% are associated with COVIDaccording to the same SSa.

And the rest can be attributed to other causes, obviously in the context of the pandemic. Here we leave the table —updated to January 30, 2023— from the SSa with the data, so that you can see it in more detail:

The pandemic and deaths in 2022

We continue with excess mortality, now year after year: the truth is that between 2020 and 2022 there is a very significant decrease in deaths.

It is enough to know that in 2020 this excess was estimated at 316 thousand 745, in 2021 the record was 317 thousand 620 and in 2022, there were 16 thousand 237 deaths —while that same year 27 thousand 231 deaths were confirmed..

The OMS

At the international level, the WHO recognized that the records of deaths from COVID in the world are not entirely accurate.

Although in its most recent reports, the WHO shared the registry of 765 million confirmed cases of COVID and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide, the Organization estimated that these data may fall short and reach up to 20 million deaths.

In addition, with respect to excess mortality, it is enough to know that this registry includes the number of deaths reported since the pandemic began —although, be careful, the death has not been confirmed by COVID or is directly related.

In the midst of this information are also the lives impacted by the pandemic, the everyday life that will never be the same again, the effects on physical and mental health and the need to continue with protocols to avoid a new health emergency.