Statistics: COVID-19 Sixth Most Common Cause of Death in September

Bratislava, October 29 (TASR) – Novel coronavirus was the sixth most common cause of death in Slovakia in September of this year, with 103 individuals succumbing to COVID-19 in the said month, the Slovak Statistics Office reported on Friday.

According to the office’s preliminary data, the number of deaths in September was 5.7 percent above the five-year monthly average.

The highest numbers of deaths were caused by circulatory system diseases, with almost 2,000 people succumbing to them in September (44 percent of all deaths). This was followed by cancer, with a death rate exceeding the five-year average for the first time this year. Over 1,100 people died from cancer in September (26 percent of all deaths).

The third most frequent cause of death was respiratory diseases (9 percent), followed by digestive diseases and external causes of death.

Excess mortality was seen in the age category of younger seniors (between 65-74 years) – reaching 15 percent. More than 4,400 people died in this category in September, but it was still the third lowest number posted in the past 12 months (following July and August).

Over 3,400 people died in the age category of 65+, almost 9 percent above the five-year average. “With the worsening epidemiological situation, a turning point came in September, with the number of deaths going up for the first time this year following eight months of constant decline. Excess mortality grew as well, but it was still the second lowest this year. In July it amounted to 1.5 percent, and in August the number of death was even lower than the five-year average,” stated Zuzana Podmanicka, director of the office’s population statistics department.

Excess mortality among people aged over 75 years reached over 7 percent. The number of deaths in the category of people of productive age (15-64 years) was 980.