Increase of Covid-19 deaths in AM was 16%, in 2021

Ívina Garcia – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The number of deaths in Amazonas increased 16.4% between 2020 and 2021, according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The total number of deaths reached 26,083 in the period, an amount that corresponds to the continuity of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the institution.

The number of people who died in 2021 increased 18% in Brazil compared to 2020, according to the balance of registries in the country. In the North region, where the states of Amazonas (AM), Pará (PA), Acre (AC), Roraima (RR), Rondônia (RO), Amapá (AP), and Tocantins (TO) are located, there was a greater variation in the death of people between 40 and 49 years old, as opposed to the data of people between 10 and 19 years old, which recorded a drop in the number of deaths.

In Amazonas, in 2021, 22.48% of the deaths (5,863) occurred in January, and 15.19% (3,963) in February, the period when the pandemic peaked.

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Among the total number of deaths in 2021 in the state, 17,355 occurred in the city of Manaus, up 12.9% from 2020, when 15,110 deaths were registered in the capital, and even higher (36.0%) from 2019, when 11,112 deaths were registered.

Elderly

When observing the characteristics of the deceased, it is possible to note that the elderly above 80 years of age or older concentrated the largest contingent of deaths in Amazonas, with a total of 5,188 deaths (19.9%).

According to the IBGE, the biggest variations in absolute numbers of deaths occurred in the 60 to 69 and 50 to 59 age groups. Among the elderly aged 60 to 69 years, the increase was 903 deaths when compared to 2020. The middle-aged group, in the 50 to 59 age bracket, came next with an addition of 810 deaths; and the 40 to 49 age group had 657 more deaths in the period.

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“It is important to understand that it was an atypical year for the data published by the survey. The occurrence of the pandemic affected the behavior regarding everything, to births, marriages, deaths and even divorces”, says the supervisor of dissemination of information of IBGE-AM, Adjalma Nogueira Jaques.

Another data that Adjalma highlights is the place where the deaths happened. “About 74% of the deaths happened in hospitals, a percentage well above previous years,” which, according to him, is a reflection of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, death at home accounted for 14.2% of deaths; and in 10.8%, the stated location was “other.”